Nicky Butt Urges Manchester United to Focus on Squad Building

Nicky Butt has seen enough of Manchester United’s recent transfer windows to know what he doesn’t like.

The former midfielder, a key part of the club’s treble-winning core, has urged his old side to abandon their obsession with marquee names and start doing something far more mundane – and far more important. Build a squad.

And in his eyes, West Ham winger Crysencio Summerville is exactly the type of signing that should be on their radar.

Summerville catches the eye on the international stage

Summerville’s stock has been climbing steadily, but his impact with the Netherlands has pushed him into a different conversation. A sharp, confident display capped by a goal in a 2-2 draw against Japan has only intensified interest in the 24-year-old.

United are understood to be monitoring him as they weigh up fresh attacking options. Butt, speaking exclusively to Paddy Power, didn’t hesitate when asked if Summerville fits what United should be looking for.

“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 warning in the same breath. The flaws are there. So is the upside.

For Butt, that combination makes Summerville exactly the sort of calculated gamble United should be taking. A player with room to grow, not a finished product with a superstar price tag.

“The money shouldn’t be a lot to get him, and United have to build a squad,” he added. That line cuts to the heart of his argument: value, depth, and balance over glitz.

Summerville, in Butt’s view, has already shown he can live at a high level. “Summerville was brilliant for the Netherlands in the first game, so he could potentially start every week for Man United,” he said. The caveat follows quickly: “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.”

From superstars to squad builders

Butt’s criticism is not about one winger. It’s about a pattern.

For years, United have chased the biggest names, the headline arrivals, the social media moments. Butt argues that this strategy has left the club exposed whenever injuries bite or form dips, with too sharp a drop-off between the starting XI and the rest.

“We've got to build the squad, the bench has got to be stronger,” he said. It’s a simple sentence, but it carries the weight of someone who knows what a complete dressing room looks like.

He pointed to the difference made by clubs who can change a game from the touchline. “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, in his view, have not had that luxury often enough.

The example he chose was telling. “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,” he recalled. The first team, when fully fit, can compete. The problem comes when they are not.

“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,” Butt said.

That “as well” is important. He isn’t saying United should never sign stars. He’s saying the club can no longer afford to ignore the middle layer of the squad – the hungry, ascending players like Summerville who can push the starters and raise the floor.

United’s next moves in the market will show whether they have finally learned that lesson, or whether the lure of the next superstar name still proves too hard to resist.