Gary Neville reveals what has ‘SHOCKED’ him about Man United’s disastrous season ahead of crucial clash with Newcastle

Gary Neville has admitted that he is in disbelief over how poor his former club Manchester United have been this season.

The Red Devils had their worst-ever Premier League finish last season but optimism was high that they could turn things around after they spent big over the summer.

United splashed out around £200m on Manuel Ugarte, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee and Noussair Mazraoui as they backed Erik ten Hag, but a disappointing start to the campaign meant the Dutchman was sacked in October.

He was replaced by Ruben Amorim, but the new manager has lost five of his first 10 games at Old Trafford, with United currently 14th in the table.

Ahead of United’s clash with Newcastle on Monday night, Neville revealed that he was baffled by how poorly the club’s new signings had played since arriving at the club. 

‘I am shocked at how poor those players have been in the early months at this club,’ Neville told Sky Sports.

Neville has hit out at United’s summer signings including Noussair Mazraoui (left) and Matthijs de Ligt (right)

Ruben Amorim  has struggled to get the best out of the new players, and has lost five of his first 10 matches at United

‘And it’s happened again. I’ve said this before that this club has been a bit of a graveyard for players with decent reputations. But when they signed those players like Ugarte, De Ligt, Yoro, Zirkzee, I didn’t hear anybody say “they’ve signed a load of bums”. 

‘They’ve signed some half-decent players there that you thought would improve the squad. The problem is when you see them play out here in a red shirt, they look like actually Manchester United are worse than they were before. 

‘That’s the bizarre thing, that’s the odd thing that I’m going to keep continuing to work out because these players haven’t all of a sudden become bad players overnight when they come to Manchester United. But that’s what seems to be the case, and it’s happening again before our eyes.’

Of the five summer signings that United made, three have been named in the starting XI to take on the Magpies, with De Ligt, Mazraoui and Zirkzee all getting the nod from Amorim.

Yoro is only on the bench as he continues to work his way back to match fitness after breaking his foot in pre-season, while Ugarte is suspended.

United have lost their last three games in all competitions, and they will have to try to get back to winning ways without their captain Bruno Fernandes after he was sent off last time out at Wolves.

Their task promises to be a difficult one as they take on a Newcastle side that has won four on the bounce to climb into the top half and move into the Carabao Cup semi-finals.