{"id":332209,"date":"2026-05-10T07:25:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T01:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=332209"},"modified":"2026-05-10T07:25:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T01:55:23","slug":"man-utd-board-slammed-over-certainly-one-of-the-largest-transfer-mistakes-ever-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/05\/10\/man-utd-board-slammed-over-certainly-one-of-the-largest-transfer-mistakes-ever-football\/","title":{"rendered":"Man Utd board slammed over &#8216;certainly one of the largest transfer mistakes ever&#8217; | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><figcaption>Man Utd have made quite a few blunders within the transfer market (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Iconic World Cup winner Marco Materazzi has accused Manchester United\u2019s board of constructing \u2018certainly one of the largest transfer mistakes ever\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>United were often hailed for his or her business within the transfer market during Sir Alex Ferguson\u2019s long and successful reign but it surely has been a unique story since he retired in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>A lot of United\u2019s biggest signings since then have underwhelmed at Old Trafford, while several sold players have thrived elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>One player who has actually excelled since his Manchester United departure is academy graduate Scott McTominay, who was sold to Napoli in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>McTominay had made 255 appearances for the Red Devils and hoped so as to add to that figure when United agreed a \u00a326m take care of Serie A giants Napoli.<\/p>\n<p>The Scotland international enjoyed an incredible first season in Naples, helping Antonio Conte\u2019s side win the league and being named the Most Precious Player within the division.<\/p>\n<p>McTominay was even nominated for the Ballon d\u2019Or award after scoring 13 goals in all competitions from midfield \u2013 a number he has equalled this term.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"594\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2265560194_affed3.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=594\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27898405\" alt=\"AC Milan v FC Internazionale - Serie A\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\">\t<\/div><figcaption>World Cup winner Marco Materazzi (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ex-Italy defender Materazzi says he believed from early on in McTominay\u2019s profession that he would turn into \u2018among the finest players on the planet\u2019 and has slammed Manchester United\u2019s decision to sell him for lower than \u00a330m.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I really like Scott McTominay,\u2019 Materazzi, who helped Italy win the 2006 World Cup, told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hajper.com\/sv\">Hajper<\/a>. \u2018I really like him a lot.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018When he broke through at Manchester United as a teenager I laughed because I said to my son that even at 18 or 19 this can be a player who will go on to be among the finest players on the planet, and now he&#8217;s among the finest.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"594\" height=\"396\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2269679309.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=594\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27898418\" alt=\"Scott McTominay of SSC Napoli warms up during the Serie A\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Man Utd sold Scott McTominay to Napoli (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018He&#8217;s an incredible box-to-box player. I don\u2019t understand how United sold him for nothing because his value, for me, is \u00a360-70m or more and so they sold him for just \u00a326m.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I don\u2019t know. Is that certainly one of the largest transfer mistakes we\u2019ve ever seen? I feel so, absolutely.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Can Scott McTominay win the Ballon d\u2019Or some day? It\u2019s a pleasant idea because I really like him as a player.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018But I don\u2019t think he will probably be champion within the World Cup with Scotland and it\u2019s challenging whenever you don\u2019t win the largest trophies.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Manchester United have been linked with a move for McTominay ahead of the summer transfer window, such has been his rise since leaving Old Trafford.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing speculation over his future at Napoli earlier within the 12 months, McTominay said: \u2018I&#8217;m extremely pleased here.<\/p>\n<div class=\"metro-poll\" id=\"1778164359513-28275285\" data-option1=\"Yes - he'd be perfect for them\" data-option2=\"No - they should look at other players instead\" data-url=\"https:\/\/api.metro.co.uk\/polls\/v2\/\" data-track-module=\"poll\">\n<h3 class=\"metro-poll__title\">Should Manchester United re-sign McTominay?<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"metro-poll__list\">\n<li data-option=\"option1\" class=\"metro-poll__option\">\n<div class=\"metro-poll__content\">\n<p>Yes &#8211; he&#8217;d be perfect for them<span class=\"metro-poll__check-icon\"><svg><title>Check<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-check\" href=\"#common-check\"><\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-option=\"option2\" class=\"metro-poll__option\">\n<div class=\"metro-poll__content\">\n<p>No &#8211; they need to take a look at other players as a substitute<span class=\"metro-poll__check-icon\"><svg><title>Check<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-check\" href=\"#common-check\"><\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>\u2018So far as I&#8217;m concerned, I&#8217;m a\u00a0Napoli\u00a0player; it&#8217;s all I take into consideration. The longer term could be very necessary, and I could see myself in Napoli for a very long time.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I really like this place. Difficulties have been minimal, my family is pleased and I\u2019m pleased.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>A second successive Serie A title has evaded McTominay and Napoli, who&#8217;ve surrendered their crown to Inter Milan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Follow Metro Sport for the most recent news on <meta charset=\"utf-8\"><br \/>\n<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sportmetro\">Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Metro_Sport\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/metrosportuk\/\">Instagram<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"><\/use><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Noni Madueke names his \u2018hardest opponent\u2019 at Arsenal and Chelsea<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"><\/use><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Pep Guardiola sends title message to Arsenal after Man City beat Brentford<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"><\/use><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: \u2018So weak\u2019 \u2013 Michael Carrick urged to sell Man Utd star after Sunderland draw<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"share-buttons-bottom\" class=\"share-buttons share-buttons-bottom\"><a class=\"metro-button share-bar-comments\" data-vars-position=\"bottom\" href=\"#metro-comments-container\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Comment now<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-comment\" href=\"#social-comment\"><\/use><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-comments__label\">Comments<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-preferred-source\" href=\"#social-preferred-source\"><\/use><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-preferred-source__label\">Add as preferred source<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Man Utd have made quite a few blunders within the transfer market (Picture: Getty) Iconic World Cup winner Marco Materazzi has accused Manchester United\u2019s board of constructing \u2018certainly one of the largest transfer mistakes ever\u2019. United were often hailed for his or her business within the transfer market during Sir Alex Ferguson\u2019s long and successful [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":332210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20686],"tags":[2056,1851,5479,1054,925,2993,3006,20687],"class_list":["post-332209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-biggest","tag-board","tag-football","tag-man","tag-mistakes","tag-slammed","tag-transfer","tag-utd"],"aioseo_notices":[{"message":"The permalink for this post just changed! 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