Nicky Butt advises Manchester United to focus on building squad with Crysencio Summerville
Nicky Butt has never been one for sugar-coating. Looking at Manchester United’s recent transfer strategy, the former midfielder sees a club still seduced by star power when the real work lies elsewhere.
His message is blunt: stop chasing only superstars. Start building a squad.
At the heart of that argument, Butt has picked out a name he believes fits the next phase of United’s rebuild – West Ham winger Crysencio Summerville, fresh from catching the eye on the international stage with the Netherlands.
Summerville catches the eye for club and country
Summerville’s rise has been gathering pace, but his latest step came in orange. The 24-year-old scored in a 2-2 draw against Japan, a performance that did more than just pad his highlight reel. It pushed his name further up recruitment lists across Europe, including at Old Trafford.
United are understood to be tracking the winger as they look to add more firepower to their attacking options. Butt, speaking exclusively to Paddy Power, believes the profile is exactly what his old club should be targeting.
"He's an explosive player, he's good to watch, but I don't think he's consistent enough," Butt said, offering both praise and a challenge in the same breath. That inconsistency, in his eyes, is not a deal-breaker. It’s an opportunity.
The key, Butt argues, is value. "The money shouldn’t be a lot to get him, and United have to build a squad."
A starter in waiting – if he grows
Butt’s assessment of Summerville is not a wild punt on potential. It’s grounded in what he has already seen at international level.
"Summerville was brilliant for the Netherlands in the first game, so he could potentially start every week for Man United," he said. That’s a bold line, but it comes with a clear caveat: the winger has to sharpen his consistency if he wants to reach the very top.
"I'm looking at him thinking he’s got to get a lot more consistent to get to the next level. But I'd still definitely look at signing a player like him."
The message is clear. United, in Butt’s view, should be buying players who can contribute now, grow into bigger roles, and raise the overall level of the group – not just headline names who dominate the wage bill and the marketing campaigns.
United’s soft underbelly: the bench
Butt has lived inside a great United dressing room. He knows what depth looks like. To him, one of the club’s enduring problems in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era has been the drop-off once you look past the starting XI.
"We've got to build the squad, the bench has got to be stronger," he said. It’s a simple sentence, but it cuts to the core of where he thinks United are falling short.
He points to the difference when top sides can turn to their bench and immediately change the game.
"When you play a team and see their starting 11 but then they’ve got another four that can come on and make a difference, that’s massive."
United, he feels, have too often lacked that luxury. The defeat to Leeds at Old Trafford last season lingers in his mind as a warning sign.
"When United played Leeds at Old Trafford last season and they got beat, the players on the bench and around the squad weren’t good enough," Butt recalled. When everyone is fit, he believes, United’s first-choice side can look strong. The trouble comes when injuries bite or rotation is needed.
"When they're all fit they’re really good but they still need to build the squad so I'd be going for some players like that as well."
Summerville, then, is more than just a name on a list. In Butt’s eyes, he represents a shift in thinking United desperately need: away from the obsession with marquee arrivals and towards a harder, more honest question.
How strong are you when you look past the first eleven?
