29 days ago
The Mirror
If this Carabao Cup triumph is a forerunner to a trophy-winning revival on the grandest stages - the Premier League and Champions League - then the asking price for Manchester United is only going to spiral
Avram Glazer left wondering if the price really is right as Man Utd kickstart new era
As a lively opening was brought to a halt by lengthy stoppages for concussion checks, some Manchester United fans broke into familiar song.
“We. Want. Glazers. Out.” You know the one.
And in the posh seats, Avram - sat cosily in the vicinity of Sir Alex Ferguson, David Gill and Richard Arnold - must have struggled to suppress a smile.
As hostilities go, they were hardly likely to put him off his half-time nibbles and bubbles, and Avram and his family’s only dilemma right now is whether to pocket a multi-billion dollar profit soon or keep hold of club football’s biggest global brand - a resurgent global brand, at that.
To sell or not to sell.
Why would you sell? Well, to take the mountain of bucks and add it to the mountain of bucks you have already made out of the club. Obviously.
Why wouldn’t you sell? Because it is hardly as though you need the dough and, more significantly, because what Avram was watching at Wembley felt like an official start of a new era.
If this Carabao Cup triumph is a forerunner to a trophy-winning revival on the grandest stages - the Premier League and Champions League - then the asking price for Manchester United is only going to spiral.
Image:
Getty Images)Getty Images)
And while this was not the most spectacular of performances - it did not have to be - there was plenty of evidence to suggest it WILL be the forerunner to an elite revival.
Players such as Casemiro, Raphael Varane, David de Gea, Lisandro Martinez and Marcus Rashford - players who made a telling difference in this final - will continue to lead the revival on the pitch and, whoever owns the club, investment will surely be considerable this summer.
But it is looking increasingly as though the prize asset the Glazers, or whoever stuffs the Americans’ back accounts, will have is Erik ten Hag.
Image:
Joe Toth/REX/Shutterstock)Joe Toth/REX/Shutterstock)
This is a coach who is masterminding a hugely promising - and now, successful - season with Wout Weghorst up top, for goodness sake.
Weghorst’s limitations have long been there for all to see but what Ten Hag sees is a player whose attributes he can use effectively in the system he feels is most effective for this United squad.
And more often than not, it works. It certainly worked for one half of this cup final.
In his decisiveness, in the clarity of the way he wants his team to play, his deployment of Weghorst is typical of Ten Hag.
The Dutchman is not distracted by the noise and nonsense that swirls around Manchester United around the clock - imagine a previous post-Fergie manager signing Weghorst in the transfer window.
And while it was a nice touch to give Harry Maguire, the club captain, a few minutes at the end of this victory, it was also a reminder of Ten Hag’s ruthlessness.
He has handled the Maguire, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jason Sancho situations with considerable wisdom the season.
Image:
Alastair Grant/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Alastair Grant/AP/REX/Shutterstock)
No wonder the United supporters have taken so enthusiastically to Ten Hag, giving him suitably rapturous acclaim after the final whistle.
They also managed to drum up a final rendition of ‘Glazers Out’ but, by then, Avram’s thoughts were probably elsewhere.
Thinking of the billions to come … and wondering whether to take them now really is such a good idea.
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