Neville identifies Gravenberch as ideal midfield addition for Manchester United
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has revealed that Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch is the player he would most like to see his old club sign. Speaking on the Overlap podcast, Neville singled out the Dutch international as a priority target for United's midfield, which he described as desperately needing reinforcement.
Gravenberch joined Liverpool from Bayern Munich in August 2023 for approximately £40 million, as part of a major midfield overhaul that also included Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Wataru Endo. Under former manager Jurgen Klopp, the 22-year-old made only 12 Premier League starts in the 2023/24 season. However, following the appointment of Arne Slot, Gravenberch was deployed as a No.6 and became a key figure in Liverpool's 2024/25 Premier League title triumph, featuring in 37 of 38 league matches.
United's ongoing midfield recruitment drive
Manchester United have been actively seeking to bolster their midfield during the current transfer window. The club confirmed the £50 million signing of Brazilian midfielder Andrey Santos from Chelsea on Monday. Additionally, they are set to activate Aston Villa's Youri Tielemans' £35 million release clause, according to reports.
When asked which Liverpool player he would take for United, Neville said: "It's harder because [Florian] Wirtz, Isak aren't jumping out to me, [Hugo] Ekitike yeah, [Dominik] Szoboszlai maybe, [Alexis] Mac Allister hmm. I'd go Gravenberch. If you said to me now, I'd take Gravenberch because I think he's the best of the three midfielders and we need a midfielder desperately."
Neville also downplayed the need to strengthen United's attack, stating: "The forwards are good but I wouldn't swap them over [Bryan] Mbeumo, [Matheus] Cunha, Bruno [Fernandes], Amad, I don't think I'd be jumping to take any of them. I think they've got potential to do brilliant things but they've not proved it yet."
Neville names Klopp as manager he would have loved to play under
During the same podcast, Neville was asked which manager in world football he would most like to have played under. He replied: "[Jurgen] Klopp. I've said this before, I think Klopp with his football, his personality, I just love it. Mad. For five or six years you couldn't help but admire the team that I dislike the most, the team that I don't want to win. Every time you went and watched Liverpool it was a proper game of football, you knew they weren't holding back and you knew they were going to go for it."
He added: "You knew they were electric in attack, speed, particularly in that two or three-year period when they had [Sadio] Mane, [Mohamed] Salah and [Roberto] Firmino at their peak. That was a proper front three, that. The runs of Salah and Mane and the goals, then you've got Firmino just dropping in and pulling centre-backs out and then they go in behind. It was devastating, honestly, it really was."
Neville also praised Liverpool's defensive unit under Klopp: "It was an aggressive backline. If you think of the three, the two full-backs and [Virgil] van Dijk, [Andy] Robertson at his peak, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk and then you had [Joel] Matip or someone… but they were three brilliant defenders and Alisson was the best goalkeeper in the world. So for me, the style of football, the personality of Klopp, yeah, I'd say Klopp."
Michael Owen remains the most recent player to have represented both Liverpool and Manchester United, having moved to Old Trafford in 2009 and winning the Premier League and League Cup during his time there.
