Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville clash over combined Manchester United 99' and current Man City XI
Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville disagreed over their selection of a combined XI of players from Manchester United's treble winning 1999 side and the current crop of Manchester City players.
Gary Neville, who was himself a part of the historic Red Devils side, was baffled by Carragher's decision to leave out Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.
When asked to pick a combined XI from the 1999 Manchester United team and the current Manchester City side, Neville initially did not pick a single player from Pep Guardiola's side.
However, he eventually made room for Ruben Dias, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland. Neville said, as quoted by The Manchester Evening News:
"The best young player we've ever seen in the league is Haaland, what he's done is off the scale. De Bruyne is potentially one of the best midfielders we've had in the league, so being objective, those two would come in. I'd have myself at right-back, Dias is a world-class centre-back and Ronny Johnsen I love, but he sometimes had injuries, although I don't want to be disrespectful."
Carragher had eight players in common with his colleague but left out the trio of Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs for Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan, and Jack Grealish. The former Liverpool defender said:
"This wasn't on who was the best player over their whole career, it was just on that season, that's how I judged it, just on that season. Ryan Giggs obviously had that famous goal but I just think Grealish has got better numbers. Five goals, seven assists, Giggs had three goals, one assist in that season, in the league, that's why I've gone for him."
Neville was perplexed by Carragher's decision to snub Scholes and Giggs. The former Manchester United right-back said:
"Ohhhh [groans]. What about Scholes, what happened with him and Gundogan? You've just gone off goals and assists with Giggs and Grealish. Scholes had 22 goals and assists that season. He played 51 matches, what part of that season did he not play? I'm not going to entertain the conversation."
Manchester United's historic treble win is still unmatched by any Premier League club, but Manchester City could finally achieve that feat this season.
The Cityzens look set to retain their Premier League crown; they have a four-point lead over Arsenal with one game in hand. City also have the Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid and an FA Cup final against the Red Devils coming up.
Manchester United are willing to offer £44 million to sign Eredivisie midfielder
Manchester United are reportedly ready to offer £44 million for the signature of midfielder Edson Alvarez from Ajax. The Mexican international has also been linked with a move to Borussia Dortmund as a potential replacement for Jude Bellingham.
Alvarez has established himself as a key player for Ajax since arriving from Liga MX outfit Club America for £13 million in 2019.
The defensive midfielder, who can also play at centre-back, has won a total of three trophies at the Johan Cruyff Arena, including two Eredivisie titles.
Alvarez was heavily linked with Chelsea last summer, but Ajax refused to sell him, having lost several influential players already. He has featured 145 times for Ajax till date, scoring 13 goals and providing six assists in the process.
Manchester United could have a crucial advantage over Borussia Dortmund for the signature of Alvarez due to the presence of Erik ten Hag. The Red Devils manager signed Alvarez during his time at Ajax and managed him on a total of 103 occasions.