Gary Neville claims Wout Weghorst is bringing more ‘profit’ to Man United than Cristiano Ronaldo

Gary Neville was stumped when asked by Jamie Carragher to decide whether he would prefer to have Cristiano Ronaldo or Wout Weghorst in his current Manchester United team. 

The former Man United defender has been a long-term supporter of his previous Portuguese team-mate but questioned whether Ronaldo was having a positive influence on Erik ten Hag‘s side at the start of the season.

Weghorst was brought in as a stop-gap striker on-loan from Burnley in the January transfer window to solve United’s centre-forward crisis but has struggled to convince doubters he is good enough to play for the club. That criticism was only enhanced after Sunday’s 2-0 defeat away to Newcastle.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Neville use a stat chart to show that the Dutchman was having a greater impact on United than previous star striker Ronaldo, saying: ‘Since Sunday that seems to have been a moment, he has played basically every moment since coming in. 

‘I called him a placeholder because United didn’t invest in a striker United would want. 

Criticism of Wout Weghorst has begun to grow after recent uninspiring performances

Cristiano Ronaldo was United’s previous striker before having his contract terminated

Gary Neville used this stat chart on Sky Sports Monday Night Football to compare Weghort and Ronaldo’s impact at United

‘This experiment has to stop, Weghorst has to come out, it can no longer go on, the reason he continues to play and why Ronaldo is no longer at the club, you see his 19 starts against Ronaldo’s 19 starts. 

‘Weghorst has 12 wins, four draws, three defeats, he has only scored two goals but the team has scored 37 goals, with Ronaldo it was 19 starts, they won three less games, drawn three, lost four more with him in the team, he scored 11 but the team itself only scored 23, they are massive differences,’ he added.

‘It is the strangeness of football is having a player who isn’t good enough to be a Manchester United forward but has brought more profit to the team. I believe he (Ronaldo) is the greatest player of all time. 

Neville then claimed that Weghorst shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same conversation when it comes to comparing the duos quality, but insists Ten Hag favours his fellow countryman due to the startling stats.

‘I think ultimately the reason he left Ronaldo out was because of the stats, I think it is clear Weghorst isn’t fit to lace Ronaldo’s boots but those are stark stats playing in same period with same team-mates, he was really poor on Sunday, he shouldn’t be there, but the reason he is there is because of those stats,’ he added.

Co-host Carragher then attempted to antagonise Neville as he pressed him for an answer on whether he would prefer to have Weghorst or Ronaldo playing for United in the current circumstances.

Ex-Liverpool defender Carragher asked: ‘So is he better for United than Ronaldo?’

Ten Hag has continued to start Weghorst due to his contribution on his team-mates

Weghorst produced another disappointing display in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Newcastle

Neville (pictured) refused to give a definitive answer on whether he would prefer to have Weghorst or Ronaldo in his side

Neville avoided giving a definitive answer and explained that the fixture in question would be the deciding factor in who to start out of the duo.

‘I don’t think either of them at this moment in time should play for Man United. It is more important who Ten Hag picks,’ said Neville. 

‘I don’t know (who I would pick Ronaldo or Weghorst) Ronaldo now is playing in Saudi Arabia, he left, that was a provocative chart, I put the chart up because of why Ten Hag continues to pick him. 

‘I don’t know who I would pick, you would move it game to game. If I was playing at Old Trafford I’d play Ronaldo, away from home probably Weghorst,’ he said.