Man Utd takeover news: Erik ten Hag makes positive transfer update amid worrying Avram Glazer stance

Erik ten Hag has revealed Manchester United will have greater financial muscle in the transfer market if a club takeover is completed.

United’s owners, the Glazers, announced last month they were looking to ‘explore strategic alternatives’ for the club which could include ‘new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions’. Since then, several groups have been linked with a purchase of the Red Devils, yet there has been no public updates from the club in the following weeks.

Ten Hag bucked that trend during United’s recent mid-season training camp in Spain when he revealed he has discussed the situation with CEO Richard Arnold. “We spoke about the culture, objectives and goals we want, and he confirmed it won’t change,” the United boss told the Daily Mail. “It will be even better because more money will become available for this project.

“My information is that it will only be a good thing because there will be more investment possible, which is good. I look at the competition around the Premier League and they all have the opportunity to invest. It’s a tough competition between seven or eight clubs.

“That’s a change in circumstances when you compare it with five or 10 years ago. Newcastle are coming and even West Ham. Maybe not now in the table, but they have huge investment.

“Spurs definitely and then [Manchester] City and Liverpool - I don’t need to talk about them or Chelsea. You can quickly count seven or eight clubs that can compete in the league. Even at the bottom, I don’t see weak teams, they’re all strong. There are no easy games.”

Yet Ten Hag’s positive stance on a change of ownership was somewhat counteracted by co-owner Avram Glazer, who told The Athletic in a brief interview that a sale won’t ‘necessarily’ take place. The club’s owners rarely speak publicly about United, making Glazer’s comments during the World Cup semi-final between France and Morocco even more significant.

“It’s not necessarily a sale, it’s a process and we’re going forward with the process, so we’ll see what happens,” he explained. “That’s the update, it’s the process and the process is proceeding.”