Richard Arnold: Man Utd CEO on De Jong transfer, dressing room leaks & Glazers with fans | OneFootball

Manchester United CEO Richard Arnold met a group of fans on Saturday afternoon to discuss a variety of topics surrounding the club.

The group of fans were planning to protest outside Arnold’s house in Cheshire, per Joe.co.uk.

But Arnold received a tip-off of their plan and decided to meet them at the pub instead.

A few videos of the encounter have emerged. View a summary of some of the topics discussed below…

On potential De Jong transfer

It’s no secret that United want to sign Frenkie De Jong from Barcelona this summer. Arnold confirmed they want to do a deal.

A member of the group who spoke to Arnold told Joe.co.uk: “He said Murtough is working from 6 in the morning til 10 at night trying to get the De Jong deal done. There’s £200m for transfers. He wouldn’t let any other targets slip.”

On dressing room leaks

United had a problem with negative stories being leaked to the media during the 2021/22 season.

“The two sources of the leaks have now left the club,” he is reported to have told the club by Joe.co.uk.

Slams club’s recent transfer strategy

Arnold was brutally honest when it came to discussing United’s transfer strategy in the past.

“We’ve burned through cash. We spent a billion pounds on players, we spent more than anyone in Europe,” he said, per the Sun.

“I am not thrilled with where we are, it doesn’t sit easy and we’ve got to get this sorted.

“You can’t go to our training ground and go ‘show me where that billion pounds is here’. I don’t think we’ve done well with the money we’ve spent historically. We’ve blown through an enormous amount of money.”

On need for money

Arnold admitted he needed more money so he could operate how he wants.

He said, per the Sun: “For the future, for investing in a new stadium and that sort of stuff, for a £250m training ground, we’ve got to do something, we’ve got to get investors in.

“I need that to do what I want for the club — I’ve got to have more cash than I have now.”

On Glazers and 2021/22 season

Arnold also addressed the fans’ dislike of the Glazers and also touched on a ‘nightmare’ 2021/22 season.

“You might not like our current owners – I can’t help that. But if you want someone else to come in they will see that the fans love the team and that is positive. But last year was a nightmare. There was hate at every game.”