Man United boss Erik ten Hag says he did engage in discussions with new investor Sir Jim Ratclifee about ‘many’ subjects but refused to elaborate further following the British billionaire’s 25 per cent stake in the club.
Ratcliffe and his INEOS team assumed control of sporting operations at United and are already in the process of making the necessary management changes beginning from the top down, beginning with the recent appointment of Omar Berrada – a former top gun executive at Manchester City – as the new United chief executive.
United head coach Ten Hag has been at odds trying to get the best out of his team during his second season in charge with the Red Devils 10 points behind current Premier League leaders Liverpool, besides also having been eliminated from the Champions League in the group stages.
United will now be off to face League Two Newport on Sunday with the hope of keeping their FA Cup dream alive in the fourth round encounter at Rodney Parade. Speaking ahead of the match, Ten Hag disclosed he has discussed ‘many subjects’ with Ratcliffe but insisteddeliberately avoided mentioning the details of their discussions.
“We speak about many subjects but I can’t go into detail, especially when it is so personal,” he said.
“First, the most important thing is the club. It’s about the club, about the team and how we have to work to high standards to achieve our targets. It’s not about any individual person.”
“When you’re involved in top-level football I think you know that you have to prove yourself every day – and that counts for everyone who is working for this club,” the manager said.
Facing a barrage of questions over United’s failures this season after an impressive debut campaign in charge last year, the beleaguered, yet ever-defiant United boss again stressed that the club is currently on a ‘project’ to improve and Hag described any future scenarios regarding Premier League title success as ‘hypothetical’.
“It’s difficult to say – it’s hypothetical, and so it doesn’t make sense to talk about this,” he added.
“[Instead] talk about where we are in the current situation, the actuality, but beware that you are in the project and that we have to follow the process.”