“Arsenal would be No. 1” - Gary Neville names 5 clubs he would have loved to join if Manchester United wanted to sell him

Manchester United legend Gary Neville has named the five clubs he would have considered joining if the Red Devils had decided to sell him. Rather surprisingly, Arsenal topped his list.

The former right-back, who spent his entire playing career at Old Trafford, admitted that while he never had any intention of leaving, he would have made a move if Sir Alex Ferguson had deemed that his time was up.

Neville, a one-club man, was an integral part of Manchester United's success under Ferguson, winning eight Premier League titles, four FA Cups, and two UEFA Champions Leagues among other honors.

His loyalty to the Red Devils was unwavering, and he never entertained the idea of playing for their direct rivals. However, in a recent discussion, he opened up about which clubs he would have considered joining if he had no other choice.

Speaking on Sky Sports Off Script podcast, Neville ruled out ever playing for Manchester City, Liverpool, or Leeds United, citing their fierce rivalries with Manchester United as the main reason.

"However, if he’d come to me at say the age of 28, and told me my time was up, of course I would have played for another Premier League club. Who would I have played for? You can rule out three: I’d have never have played for [Manchester] City, Liverpool or Leeds. Not in a million years. I don’t feel anything bad towards the players who did that, but me personally, I couldn’t have done it. The rivalry is just too much," he said.

When asked which clubs he admired and would have considered playing for, Neville singled out Arsenal as his first choice due to their tradition and how they conducted themselves as a club.

"If you’d said to me, in a perfect world, in my years of playing, which clubs in the Premier League have the tradition, a proper club? Arsenal would be No 1. The tradition of Highbury, I felt they did things the right way. Also in the Premier League, I like Aston Villa and Newcastle. In Europe I admired Juventus and Bayern Munich. I respected them as football clubs. Bayern were meticulous in their preparation, so internationally, it would be them," Neville added.

Gary Neville names culprit behind Manchester United’s current crisis

Gary Neville has given his take on the current state of Manchester United. He believes the Glazer family are responsible for United’s downfall due to their failure to plan for life after Sir Alex Ferguson and former club CEO David Gill.

The Glazers took complete ownership of Manchester United in 2005 and enjoyed a successful period until 2013, when Ferguson and Gill left their roles.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Neville attributed Manchester United’s current unwanted situation to ‘horrific’ management post-Alex Ferguson era. Neville remarked:

"The succession planning [is to blame for United's plight]. When I think about it from a business perspective, what happened post Sir Alex and David Gill was horrific. One hundred per cent it falls upon the owners in the Glazer family. The last 10 years - to run a football club without a football department is just absolutely bizarre.

"How that could not be seen either by the Glazer family or by the executive that was in place is madness. When I left 500-600 people were working at United. That went to 1,200. How has that happened? When they came in, my preference would have been for a complete takeover and for the Glazer family to leave, and it still would be because ultimately they've run their course. But at least there's been disruption."

Speaking further, Neville opined that it will take new co-owner INEOS three to four years to restore the club’s fortunes. He said:

"You've got to give Ineos three or four years to try and work out what the hell's going on. Six months in, they've found it bloody hard. It's an oil tanker. Until you're in there, you can't understand the scale of United and the enormity of everything. From keeping Erik ten Hag to the decision to bring in (sporting director) Dan Ashworth and then for him to leave, they're obviously finding it bloody tough.

"There's no doubt that there's been turbulence and wrong decisions made. The club needs a shake. There's a lot of things that need changing. To be fair there’s a new CEO, new sporting director, new technical director, new CFO. You've got complete and utter transformation in six months."

Manchester United are currently languishing in the 13th position on the Premier League table with 29 points after 24 games.