Manchester United players have been blocked from talking about one topic in their conversations with Sir Dave Brailsford, it has been claimed.
According to the Telegraph, United players have held one-on-one meetings with the director of INEOS Sport, Brailsford, to hear about the plan to restore the club to its former glory.
The publication claimed that Brailsford has met with the majority of United’s first teamers and presented Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s plan for the club. The meeting also provided an opportunity to take observations and questions from the players.
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Omar Berrada will join the club as CEO while approaches have reportedly been made for Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox to take on sporting director and technical director roles respectively.
As per the publication, the players and staff were briefed on a range of topics and issues, with the one-to-one talks not linked to manager Erik ten Hag’s future.
The club’s staff are said to have been impressed by the conversations and they are feeling optimistic about the future with INEOS in charge of football operations.
Players have been personally briefed on short-term and long-term plans for the club and how INEOS intend to restore the winning culture at Old Trafford.
The publication claimed, however, that players were not asked to give an opinion on Ten Hag, with Brailsford not appearing keen to undermine the Dutchman while the club continue their pursuit of a Champions League football and ready themselves for the FA Cup semi-final.
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There was allegedly no indication in Brailsford’s face-to-face meeting that Ten Hag would be imminently replaced, with conversations more centred on structural, club-wide and global matters.
United continue to struggle on the pitch, with a dismal 1-1 draw against Brentford on Saturday putting them some 11 points adrift of Aston Villa in the Champions League places.
Speaking last week Ten Hag insisted speculation about his job was part and parcel of managing a big club.
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"You know when you are working at Manchester United, there will always be noise and rumours around the club, team, manager, players, there will always be issues," he said ahead of the Brentford draw.
"You [the media] like it to talk about [speculation], but of course, we have different interests, but we are not focusing on that. We are focusing on the process to make the team play better, to improve the way of playing. So yes, I do not care about it.
"I was trainer at Ajax and it [the pressure] was similar and so when you are working at the top in football, you get used to it - so we do not care, players do not care, I do not care. We are working and co-operating, we know we have to perform and we have to get the right results."
Chris Byfield