Man United Confidential: Concerns over academy star’s head-scratching loan, rare insight on the Glazers and how Ruben Amorim is saving himself £200,000

For United fans who have been left frustrated by more than two decades of almost total silence from the Glazer family since they staged a leveraged buyout of the club in 2005, a new Amazon Prime documentary on their ownership of NFL franchise the Tampa Bay Buccaneers paints a very different picture of the American billionaires.

Not surprisingly, Ed Glazer is the executive producer of Raise the Flags: 50 years of Buccaneers Football which has clearly been put together with the family’s blessing seeing as United co-chairmen Joel and Avram are interviewed along with their siblings Bryan, Kevin and Darcie.

It portrays the Glazers as hands-on owners who care deeply about the Bucs after buying the club for $192million in 1995. At one point, Joel’s voice breaks with emotion as he talks about a defining win over the San Francisco 49ers on the opening day of the 1997 season.

‘This was an opportunity to take what was the laughing stock of the NFL, turn it around and make it a success,’ he says, recalling how the Glazers offered $40m above the asking price to get the deal done.

Bryan reveals that Malcolm Glazer trusted him and Joel to handle some of the negotiations with the club, and the Glazers’ approach gives an interesting insight into their purchase of United a decade later.

‘My father didn’t give a damn what anybody else thought,’ says Ed. ‘He would always say, “Why can’t we do this?”. He would push his children. “Anything you want to do, just give it a shot”. We could look at anything as long as the numbers made sense.’

United fans protest against the Glazers at a march outside Old Trafford earlier this month

In a scene that will be totally alien to United fans, Malcolm Glazer interviews Tony Dungy over dinner in a hotel restaurant, and on hearing that that a news crew is in the lobby, tells the family, ‘we ought to take him down and introduce them to our new coach’.

Who knows how the Glazers’ tenure at Old Trafford would have worked out had they adopted a similar attitude towards United.

Concerns over Kone

When Sekou Kone’s loan move to Ineos-owned Lausanne-Sport was confirmed, the noise from staff at the club was overwhelmingly positive about the midfielder’s physical capabilities in his first few training sessions, as detailed in last week’s column.

However, that positivity has been undermined by Kone being denied a spot in the Swiss side’s Conference League squad.

Lausanne could add three new players to their squad following the January window, but they chose not to add Kone, who has been given just 10 minutes of action through three games, coming off the bench in a 5-1 defeat by FC Thun.

The ability to compete in the Conference League was one of the things about the Lausanne loan that appealed to academy staff at United, a move which had originally been planned for last summer before a late U-turn.

With that opportunity no longer available, pay close attention to the 20-year-old’s progress for the remainder of the campaign.

Confidential reached out to Lausanne-Sport for clarification on the player’s Conference League omission, but United sources are still hopeful the loan can be beneficial to the Mali midfielder’s development. A head scratcher, that’s for sure.

Sekou Kone was said to have impressed staff at his loan club Lausanne-Sport, but his omission from the side’s Conference League squad is a major blow

Sponsors silent on Sir Jim

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s comment about the UK being ‘colonised by immigrants’ has attracted plenty of criticism, not to mention a statement from the club itself appearing to distance United from their minority owner.

So far, however, there has been silence from the club’s two main sponsors, kit supplier adidas and shirt sponsor Snapdragon.

German sports giant adidas signed a new 10-year deal with United in the summer of 2023 worth in excess of £900m. The agreement with Snapdragon’s American owners Qualcomm, worth around £60m-a-year, has been extended until 2029.

Insiders say that neither company has been shy about airing their concerns in the past if there was any blemishes on the United brand.

Confidential has contacted both companies for comment over the Ratcliffe controversy, but so far there has been no response.

There has been no response from some of United’s biggest sponsors after the comments of Sir Jim Ratcliffe (second from right) on immigration last week

Ruben’s rent reprieve

Ruben Amorim pocketed a £10m pay-off when he was sacked last month, and Confidential understands that the former United boss has saved himself even more money thanks to a break clause in the lease on his six-bedroom house in Cheshire.

Amorim paid £15,000-a-month for the luxury £1.2m property under the terms of a contract that was due to run until the end of his United deal in June 2027.

In theory, the 41-year-old could have ended up paying more than £250,000 for an empty house he hadn’t used for 17 months if he was unable to sub-let it.

Luckily for Amorim, a break clause was inserted for April which means he has been able to hand over the keys and only write off £45,000 in lost rent.

Amorim was last seen outside the gated house immediately after his sacking when he and wife Maria were photographed going for a walk as they smiled for the cameras.

Whether the family are able to reclaim the annual gym membership fee is another matter after we revealed that they had only recently joined a luxury health spa in the Cheshire countryside. Still, a seven-figure pay-off should help to cushion the blow.

Fresh start for Reds

One conversation this week with a prominent figure in the game brought a good point to the fore regarding United’s players.

By the time the World Cup rolls around in the US, Canada and Mexico this summer, many of United’s players will be among the freshest and most well-rested stars in action.

Take Kobbie Mainoo as an example. He is back in contention for England, according to Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel, and even if he starts every remaining game in United’s season, he will only have played a grand total of 31 matches.

Compare that to Adam Wharton, Phil Foden and Morgan Gibbs-White, all of whom will play more than 45 games and are scrapping to make the England squad this summer.

Kobbie Mainoo is back in England contention ahead of the World Cup and should be well-rested after spending the first half of the season on the sidelines

Harry Maguire (pictured at the 2022 World Cup) is another United player who should still be fresh come the summer, and has plenty of experience at major tournaments

The mileage going into a gruellingly hot tournament is an advantage for United stars like Mainoo and Harry Maguire, who will have only got through 27 games if he plays every match between now and the last game at Brighton.

Wharton, Foden and Gibbs-White have already made more appearances by Valentine’s Day than Mainoo can manage across the entire season after being ostracised under Amorim.

Form will count for plenty but freshness will too, especially when one of the biggest concerns around the FA is that fitness and fatigue may prove their undoing in the World Cup heat.

Thwaites boost for Fletcher

The return of midfielder Jim Thwaites to the Under 18s in the 3-1 win over Manchester City at the weekend, in which he scored a stunning free-kick, was  a massive boost for boss Darren Fletcher.

There is growing hope inside Old Trafford that Fletcher can deliver the first FA Youth Cup since an Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo-inspired side won it against Nottingham Forest in 2022.

To achieve that, Fletcher will need JJ Gabriel, Chido Obi and Thwaites fit and available. After struggling in central areas to dictate the game in the previous round against Derby County, Thwaites’ return ahead of this week’s last-16 match away to Oxford United is incredibly timely.

Thwaites suffered a nasty injury to both his knee and ankle in the third-round win over Peterborough United and it’s taken time for him to recover and build his way back up to fitness.

As an incredibly efficient ball-playing No 6, a role that will take on increased importance in the coming years in the first team once Casemiro departs this summer, Thwaites is the captain and leader of an Under 18s group that has plenty of firepower ahead of him to service.

Confidential will be in attendance at the Kassam Stadium on Wednesday night along with numerous club officials with the belief that Thwaites can be the difference maker.

Midfielder Jim Thwaites (pictured) has given Under 18s boss Darren Fletcher a timely boost by returning from injury as they chase FA Youth Cup glory

Wes backs Macc

Wes Brown was at Macclesfield on Monday night to see former United players Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and D’Mani Mellor in action for the non-league side as their FA Cup fairytale came to an end against Premier League side Brentford.

Borthwick-Jackson made 14 appearances under Louis van Gaal in the 2015-16 season, while Mellor’s only game for the Reds came in a Europa League tie against Astana in Kazakhstan in November 2019 when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in charge.

Brown, now a United ambassador and regular on MUTV, was at the Leasing.com Stadium to see John Rooney’s side narrowly fail to emulate their third-round win over holders Crystal Palace as they bowed out to a second-half own-goal.

At least the National League North underdogs can say they got a round further than United who had a free weekend after losing to Brighton at the first hurdle.

United support kids’ mental health

United supported Children’s Mental Health Week by encouraging their academy players to have different kinds of conversations focusing on three key areas: building connections beyond the pitch, making the academy feel like home, and asking more curious questions.

It included the creation of a ‘My Place’ wall at Carrington where youngsters of all ages were able to identify areas that made the academy feel like home to them.

Inited’s new academy director Stephen Torpey said: ‘Children’s Mental Health Week is a key part of our academy awareness calendar. It’s really important to continue to promote positive mental health and wellbeing, and highlight the positive ways that our young players can communicate their emotions.

United academy director Stephen Torpey (right) celebrated the club’s support of Children’s Mental Health Week

‘Over the course of the week we’ve seen our young players, their support systems and our staff embrace different activities and challenges designed to bring the academy even closer together.

‘Throughout the year we will continue our extensive work in this area, encouraging players – and people of all ages – to speak openly about their mental health.’

United will also plan activities to support Mental Health Awareness Month in May. For further information on Children’s Mental Health Week, you can head over to the charity Place2be’s website for more information.

How Old Trafford will impact AFCON 

And finally… one lucky United fan has landed an all-expenses paid trip to watch the team play at Old Trafford, courtesy of his country’s president.

Kenyan premier William Ruto – who himself is an Arsenal fan – has pledged to send United fan Kevin Masagara on a fact-finding mission to Old Trafford this season with an eye on the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, when Kenya will host matches.

Kevin Masagara, a popular social media personality in Kenya and ‘diehard United supporter’, will be visiting Old Trafford this season

‘I will buy them tickets, business class, and also pay for their accommodation in England for their experience, to know how things will be in here at Talanta Stadium,’ said President Ruto, who is also sending an Arsenal fan across to London for the same reason.

Masagara is a popular social media personality who is referred to as the No.1 Manchester United fan in Kenya.

With United pushing for a new stadium of their own, it will be interesting to see how Masagara’s Old Trafford experience impacts how Kenya’s Talanta Stadium approaches AFCON next year.