Nicky Butt Calls for Manchester United to Focus on Squad Depth

Nicky Butt has seen enough. Not just of Manchester United’s erratic form, but of a transfer policy he believes has drifted too far towards star-chasing and not nearly far enough towards squad-building.

The former United midfielder wants a reset — and he has a very specific type of player in mind.

Butt’s blueprint: depth over dazzle

Speaking to Paddy Power, Butt argued that United must move away from a strategy built almost entirely around marquee names and start targeting players who can thicken out the squad, raise the level of the bench and change games from outside the starting XI.

For him, that conversation includes West Ham winger Crysencio Summerville.

Summerville has forced his way into the wider European consciousness with his early performances for the Netherlands, and his goal in a 2-2 draw with Japan only sharpened that focus. At 24, he is no longer a prospect in need of protection; he is a wide forward starting to show he belongs on the international stage. United, unsurprisingly, are understood to be tracking him as they look for extra firepower in attack.

Butt likes what he sees — with a caveat.

“He's an explosive player, he's good to watch, but I don't think he's consistent enough,” he said. That criticism, though, comes wrapped in clear endorsement. Butt believes the winger’s upside justifies a serious move, especially at a price he expects to be manageable for a club of United’s size.

A player for the squad – and maybe the XI

This is not a call for another luxury signing. It is a call for a different kind of ambition.

Butt stressed that United cannot keep loading the wage bill with only headline acts while neglecting the layers beneath. In Summerville, he sees a player who could push for a starting place but, crucially, also strengthen the overall group.

“Summerville was brilliant for the Netherlands in the first game, so he could potentially start every week for Man United,” Butt argued. The potential is clear; the warning is, too. “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.”

That line tells its own story. United, in Butt’s view, cannot afford to hold out only for the finished article. They need hungry, ascending players who can grow with the team and lift the training ground standard day after day.

United’s soft underbelly: the bench

Beneath all the talk of Summerville lies Butt’s wider concern: depth, or the lack of it.

“We've got to build the squad, the bench has got to be stronger,” he said, cutting to the core of United’s long-standing problem. Top sides no longer win titles with just a glittering first XI. They win them with the players who come on after an hour and tilt tight games their way.

Butt pointed to one painful example. When United lost to Leeds at Old Trafford last season, what worried him wasn’t just the result, but the lack of quality waiting in reserve.

“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,” he explained. United, he felt, simply did not have that kind of depth. “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. 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.”

That is the heart of his argument. United’s best XI can still look the part. The problems appear when injuries bite, when rotations are forced, when the season stretches into the unforgiving months and the manager turns to his bench and sees drop-offs instead of game-changers.

Summerville, in Butt’s mind, belongs to the group of players who can close that gap — not a galáctico, but a livewire wide forward with room to grow, capable of starting often and raising the floor when he doesn’t.

The question now is whether United listen, and whether they finally build a squad as deep as the expectations around Old Trafford.