Manchester United are never far away from the back pages regarding their off-field developments and Sky Sports expert Kieran Maguire has revealed what sources in Qatar now think about the club.
Man Utd updates: Rashford criticised, Arnau Martinez linked
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast, ESPN writer Mark Ogden has criticised Manchester United attacker Marcus Rashford and believes that Erik ten Hag may soon need to drop the England international if his form doesn't improve. Ogden stated: "There’s something not right about Rashford. He had a great burst after the World Cup last season and scored in every game for 12, 13 games. But he plays in patches where he doesn’t contribute. It's an issue that Erik ten Hag has to address."
Later on in discussions, Ogden added: "Ten Hag may have to drop him. But the situation is he hasn't got the people in the squad capable of coming in for Rashford. Jadon Sancho looks like he’ll never play again; Hojlund is playing well through the middle, but beyond that what've you got?"
A recent update from 90min on Manchester United's right-back targets has revealed that the Red Devils are interested in Girona defender Arnau Martinez, who they have monitored this term alongside rival suitors Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Manchester City.
On the continent, La Liga superpowers Real Madrid and Barcelona are also keeping tabs, while Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Napoli and Roma have all scouted the Spain Under-21 international.
Meanwhile, former Chelsea man Ruud Gullit has been critical of Rasmus Hojlund's Manchester United teammates for failing to provide the Danish star with more goalscoring opportunities this season.
As per Premier League Productions, Gullit said: "I still think you have to get your striker on the scoresheet. Because if he gets on the scoresheet he gets confidence, then also the rest are looking for him all the time. They don’t look for him as much. And he’s in areas where you can have a look at him. You see too many players too eager to score themselves, they’re coming inside, they want to hit the target all the time."
Manchester United's last five results – all competitions
Competition
Opponent and result
Venue
Premier League
Sheffield United 1-2 Manchester United
Bramall Lane
Premier League
Manchester United 2-1 Brentford
Old Trafford
Champions League
Manchester United 2-3 Galatasaray
Old Trafford
Premier League
Manchester United 0-1 Crystal Palace
Old Trafford
EFL Cup
Manchester United 3-0 Crystal Palace
Old Trafford
Man Utd takeover news – Sheikh Jassim
Speaking to Football Insider about the latest takeover news at Manchester United, Sky Sports expert Maguire has indicated that relations between Qatar and the Red Devils are now fractured after Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani took his bid off the table completely:
"I’m not surprised that Qatar completely withdrew. Senior sources close to the Sheikh Jassim bid have indicated to me that there was increased frustration towards the conduct of the Glazers. On more than one occasion, they had agreed to increase the bid. They had agreed to some concessions as far as the demands of the Glazers were concerned.
"Yet every time that they felt that they were close to shaking hands on a deal, the terms were changed. In the end, they didn’t want to be taken advantage of. I think there was a huge sense of frustration because the Jassim team had spent huge sums of money employing bankers, a legal team and accountants to come up with an appropriate valuation. All of that money is now being wasted. So I think there’s no good blood between Jassim and the Glazers."
Manchester United now look to be edging toward having 25% of the club taken over by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his petrochemicals firm Ineos; however, many fans will be left to wonder what life could've been like with enormous financial backing from Qatari businessman Jassim.