Gary Neville says Liverpool star would 'change complete culture' at Man United

Gary Neville says one Liverpool player would change the ‘complete culture’ at Man United all on his own. He's exactly what they need.

Gary Neville has picked the Liverpool player he'd want at Manchester United above any other - and it isn't the most surprising choice. He was talking to The Overlap where the question was posed to him.

“I would say [Virgil] van Dijk,” he began. “I just think that Van Dijk would bring dominance to the team and a presence in the team that we haven’t got. We haven’t got a forward as good as Mo Salah, but we’ve got talented forwards.

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“I always think if you’ve got a spine of strength and presence… We always say, don’t we, ‘Oh, there’s no Roy Keanes anymore, there’s no Vincent Kompanys anymore, there’s no John Terrys’ – there actually is one now at Liverpool, when you think about how he’s performed this season, Van Dijk. He’s a massive presence on that pitch."

Neville then went on to make an even bigger claim - that the Liverpool star would change the culture at Man United all on his own.

“I think that if you want to change Manchester United’s complete and utter culture, then they need that dominant person who holds them together," said Neville. "And I think Van Dijk would control [Kobbie] Mainoo, even someone like Antony or [Marcus] Rashford.

"I think he would build them, not break them.”

Virgil van Dijk at Man Utd?

United have been crying out for this kind of player for a long, long time. An authoritative, composed leader on the pitch who keeps the standards high and guides players through games.

But it really sums up the difference between Liverpool and Man United over the last decade that this is the case. Liverpool wanted a player like that, so they found one. In fact, they found and signed several.

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United need a player like that, and they haven't found one in a decade, instead spending enormous figures on players with exciting reputations. If United had paid the cash to grab Van Dijk in 2017/18, the last six years would have looked incredibly different.

Instead, they spent the same amount on Romelu Lukaku. And that, ultimately, is the difference here.