IT MAY be a dig at Manchester United’s bitter rivals, or just an observation, but Gary Neville said yesterday that his club would never overlook local players to fill their squad with foreigners, as Arsenal have done.
While the London side’s 16-strong matchday selection against Crystal Palace on Monday did not include one Englishman, United’s teams regularly feature several players from the Manchester area, including Neville and his brother, Phil. “There will always be local lads — there has to be,” the Bury-born full back told his club’s One United members’ magazine.
“It’s so important and while this manager is in charge of the club, that is never going to change. We’ve players from countries all around the world making up the squad now, but any manager who takes charge here in the future will have to have local lads in the team. I don’t think any manager coming here would be brave enough not to bring through young local players, because the fans demand it.”
Neville said that the club had focused on local talent since the era of Sir Matt Busby, who took over the team after the Second World War.
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“It’s traditions like that, and of course playing attacking football, which makes Manchester United so popular across the country and around the world,” he said.
Uefa has said that clubs who flout quotas for home-grown players will have their squads cut for European competition in proportion to how many players below the minimum the club field.