United ‘blew’ £1bn, Arnold tells fans
Richard Arnold, the new Manchester United chief executive, has admitted that the club have “blown through” vast sums of money during a candid meeting with disgruntled fans that was secretly filmed.
Leaked footage shows Arnold bluntly conceding that the club endured a “nightmare” year – and the emergence on social media of the video has prompted warnings that other club owners and executives will become even less likely to engage informally with fans.
“Fair play to Richard Arnold – every fan moans about not getting access to people at the top of their club, this is the reason why they don’t,” said Jamie Carragher, the former England and Liverpool defender.
Supporters had been planning a protest outside Arnold’s home amid unrest about the Glazer family, who own the club.
Arnold, who replaced Ed Woodward this year, was told that around 15 fans had congregated at the Boot Inn in Cheshire, so arrived at the pub himself.
He bought the fans drinks and they cleared the air by discussing a range of topics, including the owners and United’s pursuit of Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
It is believed that Arnold asked the fans not to film or record the chat, which lasted around an hour, but parts of the conversation did appear on social media. Arnold knew that might happen, but is
understood still to be disappointed by the apparent breach of trust.
United recorded their lowest Premier League points haul in finishing sixth last season, ending with a neutral goal difference. The dreadful season was played out against a backdrop of ongoing protests against the Glazer family’s ownership. “We spent £1billion on players over the last 10 years, we spent more than anyone in Europe,” Arnold tells the fans in the video. “I’m not thrilled where we are. It doesn’t sit easy … I worry … we have got to get this sorted for the future.
“You can’t go to our training ground and say, ‘By the way, show me where the £1billion is here’. I don’t think we have done well with the money we have spent historically. Last year was a nightmare. I was hating every game. We’ve blown through an enormous amount of money.”
Despite his damning assessment of past spending, Arnold stressed finances would not restrict this summer’s transfer activity. Further investment is needed, however, for capital projects such as the stadium and training ground.
“The money the manager and the director of football [John Murtough] wants is there,” he said. “You may not like our current owners – I can’t help that. For the future, for investing in a new stadium... to do a latestand-greatest £250 million training ground we’ve got to do something. We’ve got to get investors in. I’ve got to have more cash than we have now because … no club in the world has the money to build a new stadium. You either borrow it or someone invests it.”
Arnold urged fans to get behind the team, admitting that players such as Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho had been impacted by the abuse that followed England’s defeat on penalties in last summer’s European Championship final by Italy.
“You have taken the time to come here and make your views known – and I respect that,” Arnold said. “I do respect your passion. A lot of our players are young lads; they have had a torrid time – Rashford, Sancho, the abuse they got after the Euros.
“They come back. The crowd is on them. I’m not surprised their confidence is shot. I want to put us back together as a club so we are all pulling to be successful.”
A new era is set to begin at Old Trafford following the appointment of Erik ten Hag to replace interim manager Ralf Rangnick, who had taken over from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in November.