Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has given his take on selling the club. According to the Dutchman, he believes the sale of the club would be a “good thing” as he looks to compete with cash-rich Manchester City and Newcastle. Last month, United’s owners the Glazer family made it known that they are considering selling the club as they “explore strategic alternatives”.
Erik ten Hag on Selling Manchester United
The Americans bought the club for £790m ($1.34bn) in 2005. According to Erik ten Hag, he said: “There will be more investment possible which is good.” The former Ajax coach also said when he was informed of the plan by chief executive Richard Arnold, he was reassured by what it meant.
He said: “We spoke about the culture we want, we spoke about objectives, goals and the culture and he confirmed it won’t change.” “It will be even better because more money will become available for this project.”
Ten Hag says he has not spoken to the Glazer family about the situation, although BBC Sport understands nothing substantive is likely to happen until the festive period is over.”
Demonstrations against the owners have become commonplace over the past few months, with complaints growing about the financial state of United. In their first quarter results revealed last week, the Glazers took the unprecedented step of not paying themselves a dividend. However, it was also revealed the club now owes more than £300m in unpaid transfer fees on various recent deals.
The manager is single-minded about the situation as he wants the funds to compete with the Premier League’s other leading clubs. “There’s a change in circumstances when you compare [the Premier League] with five or 10 years ago,” he said.
“The competition is much tougher.” “Newcastle is coming, even West Ham, maybe not now in the table but they have a huge investment. Spurs definitely and I don’t need to talk about City and Liverpool or Chelsea. You can quickly count seven or eight clubs that can compete in this league.”
“It’s also about strategy, not just money. But it’s clear that when you don’t have the right players and quality players you will not be successful and achieve the targets you set.”
