‘Wouldn’t be available’ – Man Utd legend Gary Neville says Wout Weghorst’s poor scoring record is blessing in disguise
GARY NEVILLE has joked that Manchester United would not have signed Wout Weghorst if his form had been better.
The Dutch striker has struggled for goals since joining the Red Devils on loan in January, having only found the net on one occasion in his ten appearances.
Weghorst joined the club from Burnley after agreeing to terminate his loan at Turkish side Besiktas.
Manager Erik ten Hag had hoped he would have solved his striker issue after the exit of Cristiano Ronaldo.
But due to his form, Weghorst has been moved to a deeper role, while Marcus Rashford has stepped up to lead the attack in prolific fashion.
And Neville has now claimed that the Red Devils would have missed out on signing the striker if he had been a more consistent goalscorer.
He told Sky Sports as the Dutchman lay falt out after missing a chance against Leicester: "Just look at Weghorst, collapsed on his back thinking, come on, give me a break.
"There is a couple moments in the game where Weghorst hasn’t got to crosses and maybe could have done as well, it’s not just the clear chances that we’ve seen.
"We’ve got Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink and Robbie Keane [in the Sky Sports studio] who were very good finishers, it’ll be interesting to see what they think.
"I don’t know why Weghorst isn’t taking these chances. I suppose if Weghorst was taking the chances he’d be scoring 20 goals a season and wouldn’t be available on a free loan.
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"He’s doing a lot of work for the team, I imagine he’s very popular with his teammates, doing a lot of that work that Manchester United’s players in the last couple of seasons have been accused of not putting in.
"But then there’s just that quality thing in the final third which is maybe what counts in the big games and towards the end of the season, we’ll see."
Weghorst was enjoying his loan spell in Turkey, having scored nine goals in 18 appearances in all competitions.
While he has not transitioned that form to the Premier League, he has helped the team perform in other areas of the game.
He was hauled off at half-time in the Europa League play-off second leg against Barcelona, with sub Antony inspiring United to a brilliant 2-1 comeback victory.