Erik ten Hag: Manchester United sale by Glazers will give me more money to spend on transfers

Manchester United have informed their coach Erik ten Hag that any takeover of the club would allow him to spend more in the transfer market.

The Dutchman has been positive about the news that the Glazer family, the club’s current owners, are exploring a sale of the side.

United were rarely the biggest spenders when the Glazers worked with Alex Ferguson, but after his departure, Ed Woodward would often lead the way in the market, despite a poor return when it came to on-pitch results, with the club yet to win a Champions League or Premier League title since Ferguson’s retirement.

Ten Hag was given £220 million to spend last summer, as he added Tyrell Malacia, Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Antony, Martin Dubravka and Lisandro Martinez to his squad, following a number of departures.

The Glazers are believed to want more than £5bn when they sell the club, but a bidding war between individual investors and tech companies such as Apple, Amazon and Google could see it change hands for well above that figure.

Ten Hag discussed his talks with current chief executive Richard Arnold, saying: “We spoke about the culture, objectives and goals we want, and he confirmed it won’t change. 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.

“I think it’s also about strategy, not just money. It’s clear that when you don’t have the right players and quality players, you will not be successful and achieve the targets you set. The competition is really tough so you need the right players.”

Ten Hag said of the Glazers: “I don’t speak to them that often but I’ve met them and I’ve spoken to them before I was appointed and when I was appointed.

“We spoke about how we will work together and how we are going to achieve our objectives, but the most contact is with Richard.”