Gary Neville's incredible reaction to failed transfer is a warning to Man United amid striker links

It has long since been forgotten amid a litany of transfer mishaps at Manchester United over the past few years, but there was a brief time when the club wanted to sign Marko Arnautovic.

It was only a couple of years ago, in fact, when the former West Ham and Stoke striker was enjoying a renaissance at Bologna. Then 33, it seemed an odd move to most and the backlash from supporters was so strong that United diverted their attention away from him.

There was a sense that United were repeating the mistakes of recent years with the very idea of signing him. Arnautovic was past his peak and nowhere near the standard of player United should have been linking themselves to.

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Alvaro Morata is a class above Arnautovic, let's be clear of that. He boasts a glittering CV with career stops at Real Madrid, Juventus and Chelsea, but the Atletico Madrid talisman turns 32 later this year.

As links to the experienced Spaniard popped up in various media outlets over the past few days – fuelled by the exposure Morata is getting as he captains Spain at Euro 2024 – a familiar feeling was summoned.

It was the feeling Gary Neville got when he assessed the Arnautovic links in 2022, with the memories of the veteran strikers United had signed in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era fresh in his mind.

"I've got a comment on everything in the world, apart from Manchester United signing Marko Arnautovic. I've got nothing to say," said Neville, with typical self-awareness.

"We've seen Radamel Falcao, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Odion Ighalo – desperate, it's a pattern. It's happening time and time again. I don't even get angry or animated about it anymore. I'm not going to comment about it."

Whether the Morata links bring a comment from Neville remains to be seen. Signing him wouldn't quite be as desperate as the Arnautovic dalliance, nor the Ighalo and Cavani deals of recent times.

But it would be the wrong move just as United are moving into a brave new era for transfers. It would send the wrong message under Ineos – that the club have not learned their lessons from the previous era under Ed Woodward and the Glazers.

Signing Morata in his pomp – as United nearly did in 2017 – would have been a decent move. It was arguably a mistake to choose Romelu Lukaku over the Spaniard.

But that's a tale from a bygone era, one United are finally moving on from. Seven years later, it's time to write a very different story.