Paul Scholes has slammed Manchester United by claiming the club is ‘begging a little’ financially, despite having been known for many years as one of the richest clubs in football.
Man United announced plans last week to build a brand new £2billion, 100,000-seater stadium to bring the club into the future, with a new ground having long been discussed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
But it comes at a time when morale around the club is low, with United struggling down in 13th place in the Premier League and struggling for any consistency or form in the early stages of the Ruben Amorim era.
Worse still, Ratcliffe himself gave an interview last week slamming five of his own players for being not good enough or overpaid by United.
For Scholes, though, there is clearly a level of doubt surrounding whether what has been promised will actually be delivered, advocating caution from fans in their optimism.
‘You can be gullible at times, and believe what he [Sir Jim Ratcliffe] says, just because you’ve never heard anyone say anything before,’ said Scholes, speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet.
Paul Scholes has warned fans not to be gullible and suggested that Man United are ‘begging’
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s bid to improve the club’s financials saw season ticket prices increased again
The club announced plans to build a new £2billion 200,000-seater stadium within five years
‘You don’t know how realistic it is, it’s all up in the air. Words are cheap, and we could say anything about anyone, you can say in 10 years we’ll have the biggest and best stadium in the world, you can say anything!
‘For a long time, we’ve been called the richest club in the world, but I feel like we’re begging a little but, coming out and asking for the stadium and that we need £2billion, and selling players to buy players.’
United plan to pay for the stadium, and elements that benefit them directly, but are relying on public funding for the rest of the project and wider regeneration of the Old Trafford area, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves backing the plans.
Ratcliffe’s time at the club, just over a year, has been characterised by cuts and cost-cutting measures as the new part-owner looks to strengthen the financial situation at Old Trafford.
One such topic that has proven to be an increasingly thorny topic is the clubs ticket pricing.
It was revealed earlier this week that season ticket prices would go up again for 2025-26.
The club believe the increase of roughly £2.50-per-game is close to the levels of inflation and reflects their rising costs which they cannot continue to absorb.
Adult season-ticket prices will now range between £608-£1,121. Youth and senior tickets are lower, and United have also applied a blanket 25 per cent concession for all OAPs, some of whom benefitted from a 50 per cent saving.
Ruben Amorim’s side have struggled for consistency and are currently 13th in the Premier League
But the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust said they were ‘disappointed’ that the club ignored calls to freeze all prices.
MUST raised concerns over plans to relocate fans sitting behind the dugouts at Old Trafford and sell their seats at higher prices in a new VIP area, and also charge non-season ticket holders more for premium games using a match categorisation model.
They also challenged United over an increase in the season ticket holder minimum usage requirement to 16 of the 19 Premier League games, the decision to impose a £10 charge on fans selling their tickets back to the club less than two weeks before the game, and a 15 per cent increase in car parking charges.
United chief executive Omar Berrada said: ‘We appreciate the loyal and patient support of our fans, and particularly our season-ticket holders who represent the core of our match-going support base.
‘We understand the importance of their backing for the team and have worked hard to come up with a pricing package that is fair and reasonable.
‘After 11 consecutive years of price freezes, we increased prices by five per cent for the past two seasons and intend to do the same for next season to offset continued rises in operating costs.
‘We understand that any price rise is unwelcome, especially during a period of underperformance on the pitch, and we listened carefully to the strong arguments put forward by the FAB (fans’ advisory board) in favour of a freeze.
‘However, the club has decided that it would not be right to keep prices unchanged while costs rise and the club continues to face financial issues.’
