Former Manchester United right-back Gary Neville gave his verdict on Wout Weghorst during his commentary of Newcastle’s 2-0 win over the Reds on Sunday.
Weghorst is not the prolific goalscorer many hoped for in January, but we must remember that Erik ten Hag did not have the budget to spend money on new players and he was restricted to loan signings.
None of the big clubs were willing to let their top strikers go on loan and United had to find an answer somewhere. That meant Weghorst would arrive from Burnley on loan.
While Sunday was a frustrating afternoon for Weghorst (and everyone else in a Red shirt), I’d argue that the Netherlands international has had a positive impact at United.
Neville jumped to Weghorst’s defence but he sounded more sympathetic than anything else. Presumably because Neville, like us, appreciates the graft the forward puts in every week.
“He was badly let down in January, Erik ten Hag, if you look at it because that Ronaldo interview that was done with Piers Morgan I think was done in November and he was always going to leave at the start of the World Cup, so he left at the start of the World Cup,” Neville said, as per Sky Sports.
“Manchester United then had six weeks before the transfer window began and they made a conscious decision not to give Erik ten Hag the money, because they haven’t got the money.
“They made a conscious decision to say you have to bring in someone on loan and he was left then, to be fair, with options – who’s going to loan Manchester United a world-class striker in January? No one’s going to do that, so they ended up with Weghorst.
“I don’t blame Weghorst at all, I think he’s done a really good job, he’s a placeholder for Manchester United and Erik ten Hag and he’s doing everything he can possibly do out there on the pitch.
“He obviously isn’t good enough to be a Manchester United number nine and a striker, but Erik ten Hag was doing really well for the Manchester United players and they needed supporting in January with a top-class striker.
“They lost Ronaldo, they lost Cavani last summer, Martial was injured – you cannot play without a centre forward.
“To play football really well your centre forward has to play really well and your goalkeeper – it’s just a rule – and he [Weghorst] doesn’t always play well.
“So for me, Ten Hag was let down badly in January by the club in the sense that they’ve obviously got £900million worth of debt and they couldn’t afford to bring in anybody else. That’s the harsh reality of it.”
SN verdict
Neville sums up the situation very well.
Although I am a fan of Weghorst, he isn’t an elite-level centre-forward which is what we need in the summer.
Still, I wouldn’t be against signing him on a permanent deal as an option from the bench.
The ability might not be a match for United but the effort is there. And, twelve months ago we were criticising this team for not showing enough effort.
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