Departing Manchester United chief Ed Woodward reportedly ‘ignored’ the advice of Gary and Phil Neville, when the former United right-backs told them to sign Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo.
Cancelo's enigmatic performances as an inverted left-back has prompted Pep Guardiola's side to pen him to a new five year contract.
He has started all but one match for the Premier League leaders, contributing one goal and five assists in 22 league appearances.
However, Neville first drew United’s attention to the Portuguese star after overseeing his progress during his short managerial spell with La Liga giants Valencia.
But Woodward reportedly ‘ignored’ Neville’s recommendations, and Cancelo eventually signed for Juventus, before sealing a £32m move to City, which also saw Danilo move to the Turin side in the other direction, during the 2019 summer transfer window.
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The London Evening Standard claim the Neville brothers both recommended Cancelo to United, only for Woodward to ignore their suggestions completely.
Since they initially drew attention to Cancelo, United have signed Diogo Dalot for £19m, Aaron Wan Bissaka for £50m, and Alex Telles for £15.4m
While the United full-backs have all had their moments, neither of them have come close to emulating Cancelo’s brilliance at City.
And Neville opened up on his admiration for Cancelo in November, and even hinted that he called United to tell him to sign them.
"I had him as a very young player at Valencia but you could just see exceptional talent. I made calls back to England - and you can imagine which club at the time - saying that if you are ever going to take a young player that is a young player you would take,” Neville said to Sky Sports.
"But I think the education that Joao Cancelo had in Italy will have been a good one for him. I think Italy toughens you up from a defensive perspective, being at Juventus as well.
"He has then come to England and when Manchester City paid £60m for him, the only doubt I had is whether City needed to pay £60m for a full-back again because they already had players in those positions. I had no doubts whatsoever about what this player was.”
After a slow start to life in the Premier League, Cancelo has cemented himself a place in Guardiola’s back four.
He only started 17 matches in his first season, as Kyle Walker appeared to be the preferred option at right-back.
While he made 28 Premier League appearances in his second campaign, he was left on the bench for the Citizens’ Champions League final defeat to Chelsea.
However, he has adapted his game and became an inverted left-back, where he has since displaced Oleksandr Zinchenko.
And Neville had no doubt that Cancelo would eventually make his mark on the Premier League.
"He is an athletic machine, he is a brilliant runner, a beautiful runner with the ball and he is a tough kid as well.
“He is strong, he is brave in his defending, he affects the game in defence and in attack, and he is delivering what I thought he would," Neville added.
“I could not be happier for him as a person because I know how tough it was at Valencia at that time he and I were there. That was a tough school for him to have to come through.
"He makes this City team better and that is a hard thing to do."
