Erik ten Hag says he is excited for Manchester United takeover

Add as preferred source on Google

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has told BBC Sport he is looking forward to the club being taken over.

The Glazers announced plans to consider increased investment including a full sale, in a statement released last month.

Ten Hag explained he has been briefed on the situation by chief executive Richard Arnold, and is feeling positive.

He said: “There will be more investment possible which is good. We spoke about the culture we want, we spoke about objectives, goals and the culture and he confirmed it won’t change.”

Takeover will improve Manchester United, says Ten Hag

Erik ten Hag is confident that wealthy owners will help make United more successful, arguing that it is going to be necessary to compete with increased riches across the Premier League.

He said: “It will be even better because more money will become available for this project.”

“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 are coming, even West Ham, maybe not now in the table but they have 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.”

United need money to stay competitive

The Glazers have held United back over the past 17 years by failing to invest their own money. The only finances used by the club are self-generated, while the club has slipped further, and more dangerously, into debt.

Worst of all, the funds which have been spent have been mis-managed, either by previous managers, or chief executive Ed Woodward.

This summer’s successful signings suggest the club are making strides in this area, but there is a risk United lack money to spend in the January transfer window.

While a takeover won’t be done in time to correct this, it will mean a lack of funds won’t be an issue in the future, if the new owners can wipe out the debt.

For now, let’s be optimistic. A headline ‘Erik ten Hag says he is excited for Manchester United takeover’ was just a dream earlier in 2022. Now we have the manager, and we are halfway there to landing new owners.