GET SPENDING!
Sanchez tells United to splash the cash if they want to win title
ALEXIS SANCHEZ has urged Manchester United to make big signings if they want to compete with their rivals.
Sanchez, who joined United from Arsenal in January on a £500,000-a-week deal, admits United still need more top-quality players.
‘Manchester United have to go out with the intention of winning everything that’s put before them,’ he said.
‘We’re a big club. We’ve had a mixed pre-season and what we’ve got to start doing now is putting things right in training. At United we have to sign big players with experience.
‘Barcelona just signed Arturo Vidal, who is a great player and my team-mate from Chile.
‘He is an example of the type of players we need to sign in order to win trophies and compete at the highest level.’
United were last night believed to be close to clinching their fourth transfer of the summer before the window closes at 5pm today.
Jose Mourinho has made no secret of his wish for at least one more player amid growing tension between the manager and Old Trafford chief Ed Woodward.
United have spent £75million on Fred, Diogo Dalot
MANCHESTER United have been accused of pressuring staff into misleading fans about the availability of tickets in an attempt to sell memberships.
Sportsmail can reveal that existing members calling for tickets have been told that none are available, yet at the same time tickets are being offered as an inducement to other supporters to sign up for a membership scheme.
The advert for membership packages — costing £32 for adults and £22 for children — on United’s official website promises ‘exclusive access to home match tickets’. However,
Sportsmail has seen a confidential email to sales staff instructing them to withhold tickets from members and offer them to non-members.
Sent on June 15, it states: ‘Until further notice any available tickets can only be sold to supporters who are purchasing a new membership, in order to create and drive further membership sales.
‘When speaking to supporters you MUST first establish if they are a member before discussing ticket availability.
‘If the supporter is an existing official member then you must advise them that we have currently sold out of tickets and advise them to register their interest online.
‘If the supporter doesn’t have a membership you can sell them a membership on the call and sell them an available ticket. It is important that you follow this process and that you are only selling tickets to new members.’
United last night issued a statement defending their policy and said that only ‘a small number of tickets’ are set aside for new members.
However, some staff are unhappy at being instructed to give what they believe is false information to supporters, many of whom have been members for years, and threatened with disciplinary action if they do not push membership sales ‘on every call’.
One employee said: ‘We feel like we are being asked to lie to supporters when we’re meant to be helping them.
‘There was one case where a fan wanted a ticket for him and his brother who has cancer and I had to say no because he was a member. When it gets to that stage, I find it morally repugnant. We’re ashamed.’
When the club announced their most recent financial figures in May, Old Trafford chief Ed Woodward revealed that membership sales had increased by 25 per cent on the previous season. It is understood there are now well in excess of 200,000 members.
But staff are uncomfortable selling new memberships when there is already a shortage of tickets. The number available for prime home games against Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham can dip below 1,000 once United’s 50,000-plus season-ticket holders, away fans, and complimentary tickets for VIPs and the club’s raft of sponsors are deducted from the 75,000 capacity at Old Trafford.
‘It’s like the lottery,’ said the employee. ‘The chances of getting a ticket are very slim indeed. If we were honest with fans and told them the real possibility of getting a ticket, I don’t think in a million years the membership sales would be as high as they are.
‘For most games, you must be looking at about 10,000 tickets on open sale. Yet the membership sales keep going up. Fans get angry and take it out on us. Some have been members for five or six years and never got a ticket.’
Staff are also unhappy with the outdated computer system which has resulted in calls being made to families of fans who have died and other calls in the middle of the night to supporters living abroad.
United issued a statement last night saying: ‘Manchester United refutes the claim that staff have been pressured into misleading official members about the availability of tickets. The club’s ticket policy is made clear to all official members and is in line with standard marketing practices.
‘The club takes pride in prioritising official members with regard to the availability of match tickets. When the 201819 Premier League fixtures came out on June 14, tickets for all games were on sale exclusively to official members. The club then releases a number of tickets over the course of the season, which are available to official members.
‘One of the key benefits of the club’s official membership scheme is access to tickets, and the club therefore needs to ensure that there are some tickets available for new official members.’