Manchester United’s first-team squad are “far from impressed” by the club’s decision to limit each player to only two free tickets for next week’s Europa League final, according to a report.
The Red Devils travel to Bilbao to face off against rival Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday in a season-defining clash for both clubs.
United and Spurs are languished in 16th and 17th in the Premier League without any hope of European football next season.
But victory in next week’s final would reward the winner with automatic Champions League qualification and the array of financial benefits Europe’s elite competition brings.
For both clubs, it is an almost invaluable match and is arguably the most important ninety minutes of football since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
And that’s because the financial situation at Old Trafford is a fraught one after years of profligacy under inept Glazer ownership.
The club cannot simply buy their way out of trouble this summer with the acute pressure of PSR set to limit the budget available to Ruben Amorim to overhaul his squad.
As such, INEOS – who gained full control of the football operation last year after Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ratification as co-owner – have implemented a series of brutal cost-cutting measures to try and balance the books at Old Trafford.
This approach has now even extended into preparation for the final in Bilbao with United refusing to provide free tickets to staff while limiting the first-team to two free tickets each.
TheDaily Mail(as relayed by the Mirror) reveals this decision has “not gone down well” with Amorim’s squad as the players were told they could purchase up to ten additional tickets at their own expensive.
The Mirror describes United’s stars as “furious” with Ratcliffe for the decision with many players’ families extending well beyond two people.
Amorim took matters into his own hands to ensure his staff did not miss out, opting to pay out of his own pocket for “30 members of his backroom staff” to be able to attend the European showpiece in Spain with their families.
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Darragh Fox Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
