Chris Sutton disagrees with Gary Neville over Man Utd not hiring Antonio Conte

Former Premier League winner Chris Sutton has furiously disagreed with Gary Neville over Manchester United's decision to shun appointing Antonio Conte.

Conte was heavily linked with taking over at United as their season began to fall apart under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last year. But despite the Italian being without a club and available immediately, the Red Devils opted to steer clear.

With United unwilling to appoint him, Conte went on to join Tottenham instead. The fortunes of the two clubs have differed widely in the months since he arrived in north London, with Spurs still battling for a top-four place.

United meanwhile saw their hopes of securing a place in next season's Champions League ended by a hammering at Brighton on Saturday. Hours after that humiliation, Spurs claimed an impressive draw at title-chasing Liverpool.

It was a typical Conte performance from the visitors, with Spurs having just 35 per cent of the possession. That saw the Italian's tactics criticised by some, including Neville, who continued to insist he was not the right man for the United job.

"I respect Conte and his football enormously but this Klopp interview gives the clear reason why he wasn’t the right fit for United. You can play football in an expressive way and win the league. Pep , Wenger , Sir Alex , Klopp etc all proved that. Simone 4-4-2 aggressive style . Proper United that. Conte wing backs ?? No," he wrote in a series of tweets.

Sutton, who won the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers, has now fired back at Neville, insisting that Conte would have been perfect for the Red Devils. The former striker called for Neville to "behave" as he moved to defend the former Chelsea boss.

"Antonio Conte was right for Manchester United