About 6 years ago, Manchester United was one of the most admired clubs in the entire world. Their glory and superb performance was a thing that attracted many players to the club to a point that many considered it a dream team.
But things seem to have changed at Old Trafford especially after the retirement of the former coach Sir Alex Ferguson at the end of the season 2012-13. Since then, the Red Devils have never lifted the Champions League and the Premier League trophy. However, the situation at Old Trafford appears to have become worse in the past season.
But where did the rain start beating them?
United fan Derek Langley, 68, who spent 16 years as head of youth recruitment at the club, had claimed he was sacked from his position at Manchester United after he recommended some young stars to Old Trafford chiefs.
In his time at Old Trafford, Langley scouted the likes of current stars Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard. He was also responsible in signing the likes of Gerard Pique and Danny Welbeck – who moved on to top-class clubs.
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Speaking to Manchester Evening News, Langley said: “It’s one of the things in football – you come to accept it. Manchester United thanked me for the time I spent there and the players I’d taken in, but ultimately we could have been so much better if people had listened.”
“This was one of the reasons why I had a meeting with Ed Woodward and I told him that I wasn’t convinced with the competency of certain people at the club.
“I told Ed Woodward quite straight: “If you think I’m going to sit here and just tell you what you want to hear, I’m not that man because I’m going to tell you exactly how I see it.””
The 68-year-old also claimed that he had recommended the signings of the Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt earlier on before they joined Ajax in 2016.
The Dutch pair are now two of the hottest prospects in the game and Langley has admitted he hoped his recommendations were taken more seriously.
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“Players that they turned down? Matthijs de Ligt. We had God knows how many reports on Matthijs de Ligt. Frenkie de Jong and all these players now are sort of around Europe,” the 68-year-old told one sports publication. “Dayot Upamecano, who is now at Red Bull Leipzig, was another.”
Man United fans are apparently fed up with their club management, which is why they recently sparked a social media campaign with a hashtag of # GlazersOut to oust the thorn in their flesh.