Former Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimović has defended the Glazers in his recent exclusive interview with Piers Morgan.
The 42-year-old retired from professional football back in June but is considered to be one of the best strikers of all time and remains a global sporting icon, so naturally when the controversial journalist and former Good Morning Britain host had the opportunity to speak with him, he didn’t pass it up.
During a nearly two-hour conversation, the pair discussed everything from Zlatan’s decorated career and recent retirement to Saudi Arabia, his fraught relationship with current Manchester City and ex-Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola, his time at Old Trafford and much more.
When it came to the subject of Man United and how Erik ten Hag is faring at present, Piers pressed the ex-Swedish international on what he made of the club during his time there and why things aren’t going so well at the moment.
"I think it's a little bit wrong saying that they are not doing what the fans expect them to do."
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) October 5, 2023
Zlatan has his say on the Glazers.
In contrast to his fellow former United star Cristiano Ronaldo, who famously said that he believes the Glazers “don’t care” about the club and the fans, Zlatan argued the other side somewhat.
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“I think now in, I don’t know, there are some kind of demonstrations about the owners to sell it and that, but just a reminder, the owners are investing”, says Ibra.
He continued by insisting, “It’s not like they are not investing because they brought in many players for a high amount of money, so I think it’s a little bit wrong saying that they are not doing what the fans expect them to do… I don’t know what the real reason is behind everything.”
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As for the coach, with whom he shared a connection as both spent formative years at Ajax, despite Morgan suggesting that the Dutchman may be “out of his depth”, Zlatan argued that he “needs time” to get used to a different situation — time being a commodity not many are afforded in the Premier League.
Extrapolating from his own time there where he claims everyone was too focused on “what Fergie would have done”, he did note that there was a leadership gap between the manager and the people above him, going on to suggest that this is still part of the problem for ten Hag‘s team.
While it was clear he had lots of time and respect for the likes of ten Hag and his long-time coach Jose Mourinho — the man who was also responsible for bringing him to Manchester — the footballing veteran had much less glowing things to say about Guardiola.
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Recounting a period when he had been benched by the Catalan coach, the big number nine explained how he ended up arriving at training in a Ferrari knowing full well it would cause a “situation” and that their issues soon became personal rather than professional.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
6th October 2023 
