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Topics: Gary Neville, Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo, Casemiro
Josh Lawless
Topics: Gary Neville, Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo, Casemiro
Gary Neville has criticised Manchester United's new 'Ronaldo rule' and highlighted summer Casemiro when making his point.
This week it emerged that United had enforced a squad-wide salary cap. The thinking is that it will avoid a culture of jealousy in the dressing room at Old Trafford and was quickly named after Cristiano Ronaldo, who recently left the club for a second time.
Although it is much less than what he is raking in over in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo was reportedly earning a whopping £515,38 per week in his second stint at United.
As a result, United had the highest wage bill in the history of the Premier League. But Erik ten Hag, director of football John Murtough and chief executive Richard Arnold have decided that £200,000-a-week will be the maximum a United player can earn.
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Though it's been praised as a positive step for squad harmony, former United skipper Neville called it a "radical policy".
He feels as though it will price United out of any moves for stars like Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Declan Rice, who would all likely command wages in excess of the £200,000-a-week figure.
He then pointed out that the likes of Casemiro, Raphael Varane, David de Gea, Bruno Fernandes, Anthony Martial, Jadon Sancho are all said to above the cap currently.
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"Not sure why any radical new policy is being introduced IF new owners are imminent," Neville wrote in a series of tweets in response to the news.
"Capping wages is a radical policy. Rules out [Declan] Rice, [Jude] Bellingham and others in that bracket. Any new owners would probably want to enter the running for these types and probably [Kylian] Mbappe as well."
"Seems a strange policy when you have Casemiro, and others on 350/400k for four more years in the dressing room."
De Gea is believed to be on £375,000-a-week and is one of United's top earners. Having racked up over 500 appearances, the Spaniard wants to continue playing for United and is prepared to take a hefty pay cut as part of a new contract.