Man Utd’s four incidents where they ‘looked stupid’ – just like Newcastle have

Gary Neville has compared Newcastle's failed attempt to sign Marc Guehi to four 'stupid' transfer blunders by Manchester United. Eddie Howe had identified the England defender as a key target during the summer transfer window, with Newcastle offering a club record £65million, plus an additional £5million in add-ons.

However, that was not enough for Crystal Palace owner Steve Parish, leading to the Magpies walking away after numerous failed bids. Following the closure of the transfer window, new sporting director Paul Mitchell suggested that the transfer policy he inherited from predecessor Dan Ashworth, now at Old Trafford, required significant changes, sparking rumours of tension between him and Howe.

Sky Sports pundit Neville claims the unsuccessful pursuit of Guehi was a source of embarrassment for the club, drawing parallels with Man United's transfer strategy, which has often seen them overpay for players or miss out on targets altogether.

Citing four examples, Neville said on The Overlap: "You don't chase a player unless you've been told you think you can get him from someone. United were getting played for years on this with, with Jadon Sancho, Frenkie de Jong, with other players going back to [Gareth] Bale and [Cesc] Fabregas all those years ago and they looked stupid every single year.

"At least this summer they've [Man United] looked like a polished outfit. If they were getting turned down, they were getting turned down quietly.

"Marc Guehi is an English player, obviously Steve Parish is trying to bump the price up, but you still look a bit clumsy when you don't get [your target]. Eddie Howe will be fuming with that."

However, Roy Keane believes Newcastle made the right call to step away from talks, insisting any tension between Howe and Mitchell was normal for a club of that stature. He said: "This is the norm of football clubs now, there's always something going on. Even with [Jurgen] Klopp there was issues, [Erik] ten Hag there's always politics going on in the club."

"That's how you find out maybe how good Eddie Howe is over the next few months, to manage that side of it. We talk about [Newcastle not being able to sign Marc Guehi] but when clubs are asking for 70-odd million, you have to back away from a deal."

Speaking after the transfer deadline, Howe insisted he had no complaints, saying: “I’m very, very proud of every single player that we signed in that period [since he arrived]. It is very easy to look back at any transfer window and make a judgement on the players you have signed three years down the line.

“But you have to go back to the situation when we were in those moments, in the relegation zone and trying to recruit players. That is not an easy thing to do."