Battle to buy Manchester United: the big dos and don’ts for the next owners
When Louis van Gaal walked through the manager’s door in July 2014 he was stunned at how the actual football had parity (at best) with Manchester United The Commercial Beast. We can be sure because the Dutchman chose, when answering the first question at his unveiling in Old Trafford’s Europa Suite, to pithily state that he knew “how important also the sponsors are” – an observation he repeated on the pre-season tour of the US. United have never had a Gulf state owner or billionaire backers willing to spend like Chelsea’s so the need to self-finance has been fundamental, but the pursuit of footballing excellence as the prime focus too often feels subservient to the financial imperative. For a snapshot take a peek at the 25-long list of global sponsors on the club website.
The route to a successful team is simple: hire the right manager and allow him time and authority to remould the squad and, by natural extension, the club. Ten Hag has zero trophies on his United CV but is winning battles that matter on and off the field in the quest to build a winners’ culture. His nascent side are attractive and dynamic and in the first final they could reach under him: Sunday week’s Carabao Cup showpiece with Newcastle. United required major surgery when Ten Hag took over but are outsiders in the title race, five points behind Manchester City and Arsenal. He improves players, too, as Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka will confirm. Away from the pitch, Ten Hag has moved out the petulant Cristiano Ronaldo, smoothly demoted the captain, Harry Maguire, to fourth or fifth choice, and managed up expertly to a boardroom where the Glazers’ January parsimony meant signing the Burnley reject Wout Weghorst on loan and not the
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