Gary Neville has revealed he recommended Joao Cancelo to Manchester United but was ignored by his former club.
The former right-back managed the Manchester City star in his short spell as Valencia boss during the 2015-16 season. Even as a 21-year-old, Neville could see Cancelo would end up being something special.
And so it has proved. The Portugal international has enjoyed a superb campaign at the Etihad, sitting behind only Liverpool duo Trent Alexander-Arnold (12) and Andy Robertson (10) when it comes to assists made by a defender in the Premier League this season.
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Things could have been very different had United listened to their former captain. Rather than potentially helping City to another title, he could have been plying his trade at Old Trafford.
Speaking about the full-back during an Instagram Live, Neville said: “He’s unbelievable, he’s brilliant. I think Cancelo is a brilliant full-back. I never had any doubts when I was at Valencia for those four months that he was going to be a top player. I literally told United about him.
“I said, ‘honestly this boy is someone special you’ve got to look at getting him’. And then he went to Juventus to be fair, [Valencia] sold him for £40million to Juventus, and then obviously City bought him for £60m. He went to Inter Milan [on loan] as well.
“He had two big moves, he’s got massive experience now, he’s got great courage on the ball, left and right foot, brilliant player.”
Louis van Gaal was United’s manager at the time when Neville made his recommendation, although he would be sacked not long after and replaced by Jose Mourinho. However, Cancelo represents another missed opportunity in what has been a poor few years in the transfer market for United.
Neville had already hinted last year that he had recommended the 27-year-old to United, saying: “I had him as a very young player at Valencia but you could just see he was an exceptional talent. I made calls back to England, you could imagine to which club I’m talking about, [saying], ‘if you’d ever take a young player, he’s one you’d take’.”
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