Big Sam taunts Man Utd for lacking out on signing they might have had for ‘discount worth’

Sam Allardyce has taunted Manchester United after telling them they made a mistake failing to sign Jarrad Branthwaite this summer.

United led the race to land the England and Everton defender, but were unable to agree a fee with the Toffees. United have gone on to have a dreadful start to the season, which has seen Erik ten Hag get sacked.

The fallen giants have slumped into the bottom half of the table. And former England, Bolton and Newcastle boss Allardyce reckons United missed a trick by not signing Branthwaite, especially given his previous relationship with Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Van Nistelrooy is in caretaker charge of United until Ruben Amorim arrives.

Allardyce told the Football Accumulators ‘No Tippy Tappy Football’ podcast: “It was a big surprise that nobody spent the money on him in the summer, a left-footed centre-half, particularly at Manchester United.

“You’d have thought that whoever wanted a centre-half who’s proven himself to be able to play in the Premier League, and his capabilities are getting even better.

“It was a big big miss for a lot of those big clubs. With Everton’s financial problems, somebody thought they could nick him at a bargain buy.”

It’s all change for United with Van Nistelrooy set to take charge of his final game as Red Devils interim boss against Leicester over the weekend. It will be then time for Ruben Amorim to arrive on Monday.

Amorim waved goodbye to Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday, taking charge of his final home game as the Portuguese giants put Manchester City to the sword in the Champions League.