Neil Warnock names the Arsenal star Man Utd should have signed

02/19/2025 11:59 AM

Neil Warnock has criticised Manchester United’s ‘poor’ recruitment and says they should have beaten Premier League rivals Arsenal to a major transfer coup.

United’s recruitment has been one of the most glaring problems since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2023, with the Manchester giants spending hundreds of millions on players who have underwhelmed at Old Trafford.

Ex-Premier League manager Warnock raised the £73m Manchester United spent on Jadon Sancho as an example of the money the club have ‘thrown away’.

Warnock believes United could have made a statement in the summer of 2023 by beating Arsenal to a deal for England midfielder Declan Rice.

The likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea were linked with moves for the then-West Ham captain but Arsenal secured his services in a deal worth over £100m.

Rice has been an ever-present for Arsenal and England ever since, helping the Gunners mount three successive title challenges and the Three Lions reach back-to-back European Championship finals.

‘I thought Man United should sign Declan Rice before he went to Arsenal,’ Warnock said on The Seaman Says podcast with Betway.

‘And I thought, spend a good amount of money on a good player, instead of buying three or four rubbish.

‘When you look at Declan, you look at how he plays, it’s not a gamble, is it? He might have a bad game here and there, but it’s not a gamble.

‘Was it Sancho, they played £70million or whatever? Some of the money they’ve thrown away, the recruitment’s been poor, hasn't it?’

Rice has impressed most fans and pundits since joining Arsenal, but Manchester United legend Paul Scholes recently questioned his role for the Gunners.

‘Declan Rice, I'm not disappointed by him, but I don't really know what he is anymore,’ the ex-England midfielder said.

‘Is he the holding midfielder? I've heard Gary Neville say he should be getting forward and scoring goals. I've never seen him that way.

‘I think he's almost got a bit stuck in not really knowing what he is and Mikel Arteta not knowing what he is.’

Rice, 26, will hope to fire Arsenal to silverware in the back-end of the 2025-26 campaign, with Arteta’s side still hoping to win the Premier League and Champions League.

But the Gunners will have to make up a seven-point deficit on Premier League leaders Liverpool to win their first title since 2004.

Arsenal impressed in the Champions League group phase but the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid are standing in their way in Europe.

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