Sport
Marcus Rashford rubbishes rumours of ‘£500k-a-week’ contract demands
Always check your sources, folks.
Marcus Rashford has quickly quashed rumours that he and his agent were eyeing up a new ‘£500k-a-week’ contract at Manchester United following a story by the Daily Star.
The Manchester United star, who is currently enjoying the best season of his career so far, was reported by sports writer Jeremy Cross to have been looking for a £500k-a-week as he approaches the final 12 months of his current contract and the club are keen to tie him down on a new long-term deal.
While negotiations are believed to have begun, there wasn’t just little evidence to support these claims: there was none — with the outlet simply suggesting that he wanted to be the highest-earner in the Premier League above the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Erling Haaland and teammate David de Gea.
All three referenced are said to be on weekly wages of between £375,000-£400,000, and Cross also referenced Cristiano Ronaldo’s massive wages after his return to the club, but as the in-form number 10 qualified shortly after on Twitter, his claims were all “complete nonsense”.
As you can see, the 25-year-old wasted no time in putting the paper talk to bed, insisting that he and the club “have been respectful to one another”.
Rashford was reported to be on upwards of £200k a week in his current contract signed back in 2019 and set to expire in June 2023, but he was one of four players who had extensions triggered by manager Erik ten Hag shortly after he arrived at Old Trafford, alongside Diogo Dalot, Fred and Luke Shaw.
Following United news aggregator UtdPlug sharing the false report, the tweet was soon taken down, with the social media account apologising to Rashford directly and assuring, “it won’t happen again”.
Thankfully, the Wythenshawe-born winger was as understanding as you’d expect, replying: “No problem at all!… I know you are not to blame”.
Read more:
The England star missed out on the Euro 2024 qualifying matches after withdrawing through injury and was also subject to criticism by some sections of the media for visiting New York shortly after the announcement.
However, Gareth Southgate quickly snuffed out that narrative too, insisting that “once he’s ruled out of the squad, it’s entirely up to him how he spends his time. The players don’t get a lot of breaks… If they get 48 hours with the schedule as it is, I think they have to take advantage of it.”
On the other hand, many Reds have quipped that Rashford and United have simply echoed the days of Sir Alex Ferguson by recalling key players during the international break to avoid any risk of injury and get some added rest.
Either way, he is now back in training and, as he said in his tweet, simply focused on “the league and winning trophies.”
For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.
Featured Image — Marcus Rashford (via Instagram)
Sport
Manchester Futsal Club mop up Team and Coach of the Year awards after stellar season
Danny Jones
Manchester Fustal Club have picked up a pair of impressive awards following a brilliant season, winning both Club of the Year and Coach of the Year awards.
The Manchester side finished as runners-up in this year’s National Futsal League campaign, winning nine, drawing two and losing just three of their 14 games all season.
Despite finishing behind this year’s champions Bloomsbury in the men’s first tier, the promising young side and Manchester Futsal Club Women‘s team have been both recognised for their progress over the past year, with the Greater Manchester girls taking a year out as part of a big development drive.
With one of the lowest average ages in the league, the squad’s stellar second-place finish looks to be a sign of even better things to come next season.
Better still, the accolades didn’t stop there as player turned coach (for this season at least), Ryan Williams, won the National Futsal Series Tier Two Coach of the Year award at the 2023 Grand Finals as well.
After suffering a heavy ACL injury, Williams decided to spend his year coaching the B team, which he also led to second position, finishing just six points behind league leaders Derby and only just missing out on a place in the Futsal Champions League preliminaries.
At just 23, Ryan is one of the youngest to have ever won the award and having studied at Ashton Sixth Form College, the school passed on a “huge well done” to the youngster, adding that “the Sport and Public Services department, in particular, are hugely proud of your achievement.”
Writing on social media, Williams also heaped massive praise and credit on co-owner Ilya Ovechkin and coach Raducio King, among many others, who helped him on his coaching journey.
Read more:
Speaking to The Manc, he went on to add: “It was my first season working with this squad and the competition was high.
“There was never an easy game with a lot of other great coaches across the country in Tier 2, so to win Coach of the Season is my greatest achievement as a coach. Manchester Futsal winning Club of the Season also goes to show our club values and how well the club is run from the academy right up to the first team.
“It shows how much work all the staff have put in this season to make us the best club in the country.”
With two teams finishing as runners-up in the two highest leagues in the country, and the women’s team beginning to shape an exciting new squad ahead of returning to the fold next season, it’s been a brilliant year all-round for Manchester Futsal Club. We’re excited to see what comes next.
For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.
Featured Image — Manchester Futsal Club (via Twitter)
Sport
Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim gives Manchester United an ultimatum after submitting fifth bid
Danny Jones
Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani has issued Manchester United an ultimatum after submitting a fifth and supposedly final bid to buy the club.
Entering his fifth revised bid to buy Man United outright on Wednesday, the Middle Eastern banker and member of the Qatari royal family is reported to have told the club he is willing to pay “no more than £6 billion” for the takeover, an offer which sees him become the first to match the Glazer’s asking price.
However, in trying to give the negotiations a much-needed jolt — with Sheikh Jassim said to have grown frustrated with the long, drawn-out bidding process — his latest proposal also came with an ultimatum, telling the owners that they have until Friday, 8 June to accept his offer or else he will walk away.
So, rather than being strung along by the Glazers any further and potentially being dragged into another round of bidding with an arbitrary deadline, he has now given them until the end of the week to return their decision.
As Sky Sports‘ Kaveh Solhekol went on to explain, Sheikh Jassim is now “frustrated and fed up” with how the bidding process has gone thus far, noting that talks first began almost seven months ago and there have been multiple so-called ‘deadlines’ that have led to little consequence or progress.
As a result, his bidding team have told the Glazers, board members and the Raine Group officials overseeing any potential deal that he will “no longer engage with the process” if the fifth bid is not accepted by Friday.
The chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) who spent time in England whilst being educated at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst also wants to get the deal done as quickly as possible in order to clear the debts and properly fund the project at the earliest opportunity ahead of next season.
In addition to clearing United’s debts which are estimated to be just under £1bn, the sheikh will reportedly pump sizeable funds into redeveloping the stadium (or building a new one) and investing in the squad. While his exact net worth is not known, his family’s wealth is estimated at around £275 billion.
Read more:
As for whether the Glazers will actually adhere to Sheikh Jassim’s deadline and accept his fifth and final bid, it remains to be seen, but it looks like someone needs to take charge in these negotiations if they actually going to move forward.
Gary Neville has already warned that the “shoddy” bidding process could end up jeopardising next season if it continues to go on any longer and many fans think the Qatari prince’s all-or-nothing offer is the only option to finally get rid of the Glazers.
The only other remaining bidder is still Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the INEOS Group, whose last bid was said to be for controlling interest of the club but would still leave the door open for the Glazers to keep a minority share.
However, the message from the fans has always been clear: “green and gold until the club is sold”, i.e. full sale only.
For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.
Featured Image — Wikimedia Commons
