'It'll be a struggle' — Gary Neville sends Manchester United 'inferior' manager warning

Gary Neville has urged that Manchester United cannot appoint an "inferior" manager or they'll suffer the consequences and fail to haul in Manchester City and Liverpool.

United have struggled to find a long-term suitor for the Old Trafford hot-seat since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's stint in charge ended with a string of dismal results, including the stinging 5-0 defeat to Jurgen Klopp's side in October.

With Ralf Rangnick set to move into a consultancy role from July, the Manchester Evening News understands that Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag have been shortlisted as permanent successors to the Norwegian.

But Neville has warned that if United appoint someone with severely less calibre than Guardiola and Klopp, they will get "beat up".

"They cannot put an inferior manager in against Pep and Klopp because they will get beat up, whoever they are they will get beat up," he said on The Overlap YouTube channel.

"Throw all the money at them in the world and it'll be a struggle."

Despite finishing second last season, United have failed to replicate their showings of last season and have been made to rue their mid-season slump, which derailed their title hopes.

The Overlap is a YouTube channel from Gary Neville in partnership with Sky Bet.