Ed Woodward 'ignored Gary Neville's advice' over Man Utd transfer recommendation

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.

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