Rio Ferdinand says Jude Bellingham is not the answer to United’s problems
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has warned his former club against signing England midfielder Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund, saying the culture of the club and the manager need to be addressed first.
Image credit: PA Images Rio Ferdinand on punditry duty with BT SportUnited crashed out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage on Tuesday evening, losing 1-0 to Atletico Madrid at Old Trafford.
This saw the Spanish side win the tie 2-1 on aggregate, with the final chance of silverware for interim boss Ralf Rangnick’s side evaporating as a result.
Indeed, the next trophy they can possibly win is the League Cup next February, meaning they will have at least a six-year spell with no silverware.
They are also currently in fifth place in the Premier League, one point behind fourth-place Arsenal but having played three games more, so qualifying for next season’s Champions League is not a sure thing either.
After the result, Owen Hargreaves claimed Bellingham is a player United should be looking to sign, but Ferdinand told BT Sport that the problems at United are far more intrinsic.
He said, "I don’t necessarily think it’s about who you sign, though.
"I was screaming at the start of the season ‘oh we’ve got [Cristiano] Ronaldo, we’ve got [Raphael] Varane now’. Big players.
"If the culture at the football club isn’t right, it doesn’t matter who you bring in. You need a manager that can guide the ship, and United don’t have that at the moment.
"We’ve seen it enough this season, people walking away from this stadium or anywhere they’ve played saying ‘I didn’t get enough out of X, Y or Z player in that game’.”
Maurcio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag are amongst the favourites to take over from Rangnick in the summer, but Ferdinand believes any manager would be reticent to take up the position due to the sheer amount of rebuilding work that is needed at the club.
He continued, "There’s so much work to be done.
"If you are looking to come here, it is a great project to be a part of, but I think managers might look at others clubs because there is less pressure where the spotlight isn’t on them as much."