Why furious Man United fans believe there’s an ulterior motive to season ticket changes, the two young superstars on transfer radar this summer and why industry experts have huge doubts about new stadium cost and opening date

Manchester United’s decision to uproot fans to make room for a new VIP dugout club at Old Trafford has been branded ‘appalling’ and ‘ruthless’.

In an email seen by Confidential, United informed around 500 supporters within hours of Monday’s announcement that they will be moved next season to create premium hospitality seats in the ‘unique location’ directly behind the coaching staff and substitutes, and apologised for the inconvenience.

It read: ‘We have identified a small number of general admission tickets directly adjacent to the home and away dugouts that will be converted to hospitality seats this summer.

‘Your current seat is included within this block, and we will therefore need to find you an alternative seat for next season. We appreciate the disruption and inconvenience this will cause, and we apologise for having to move you.’

The move has upset many fans who have had the same seats in two blocks, 214 and 215, of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand for years, even though they will be prioritised and have first choice on available season tickets elsewhere in the stadium for the 2025-26 season.

Confidential was contacted by one fan who said: ‘I’ve sat in the row behind the dugout for 34 years, and I get this email which is a disgrace. It’s appalling of the club. The guy next to me has sat there for over 50 years, and he’s told me he’s unlikely to renew at 85 years of age.

‘So many memories and now we have to make way for the super-rich prawn sandwich eaters who don’t even support United.’

Another fan said: ‘It’s ruthless, and it just seems to me to be walking over the top of us for the sake of money. I’ve been in the same seat for 40 years and paid less than £500 with concessions this season. Now I’m being offered it as an executive club seat with dining for £15,120!

‘There are so many fans that are in the same predicament. It has left us all absolutely gutted because we all sit together. It’s quite a community. I’m so disgusted, the club should be ashamed.’

United sources insist the seats are significantly under-priced at the moment – around £44 per game compared to up to £12,500 at some Premier League rivals like Chelsea. They say the move will increase matchday revenue and help United to keep prices down elsewhere at Old Trafford after it was announced that the cost of season tickets will rise by five per cent for the third year in a row.

Protest group The 1958 issued a statement on Tuesday criticising ‘the stealth rises to change the optics of the five per cent increase across all season ticket holders … especially after serving up one of the worst teams in decades’.

As well as the VIP dugout club, it singled out the increase in prices for OAPs, dynamic pricing on certain games and a 15 per cent rise in all car park charges, claiming that fans are being left to ‘foot the bill’ for the way majority owners the Glazer family have run United.

The 1958 said: ‘This is the first phase of reducing the amount of season-ticket holders. We have always campaigned the club are trying to marginalise matchgoing fans.

‘We want a custodian of the club that puts fans first and cares about this once great institution. Instead, we have a club that is crumbling beneath our feet and we are expected to foot the bill for 20 years of Glazer decay and damage.’

Ratcliffe faces OAP backlash

United are also facing a backlash from OAP fans who are being hit with huge season-ticket price rises, following Monday’s announcement that their 50 per cent discount is being scrapped.

The move means some of the club’s most loyal supporters over the age of 66, the majority of whom have had season tickets for decades, could be paying up to £350 more for their seat than they did this term.

Confidential has heard from fans who say they will not renew as a result of the change, with co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe in the firing line. One said: ‘My season ticket cost £475 last season, and next it’s going to be £846-£850 or from £26 per game to £44-£50.

‘Sir Jim Ratcliffe is hitting long-standing supporters with massive price rises. It seems he and his board want to get rid of pensioners so they can sell seats at priority prices on the back of OAPs losing out. A lot of pensioners are not going to renew season tickets due to increasing prices.’

Another said he has been hit with a 70.2 per cent price rise, adding that he now also faces a £10 surcharge if he tries to sell his ticket back to the club within two weeks of the game, under the new rules, while under pressure to meet the increased threshold of having to attend 16 of 19 home Premier League games.

The 1958 described the decision to scrap the 50 per cent discount as ‘a total disgrace’ while the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) said it is seeking ‘urgent discussions’ with the club.

A MUST spokesman said: ‘The effect of this policy change is big price hikes for older fans and it is no surprise that now they have been announced they’re causing such huge concern.

‘We urge the club to phase the reduction in the OAP discount over more than one season to mitigate the sudden impact on some of our most loyal supporters.’

Sources say the controversial decision was made to correct an anomaly, where some fans had their tickets discounted by 50 per cent while others in the same category received 25 per cent off.

United changed the concessions policy for fans who were 65 or older to 25 per cent ahead of the 2023-24 season but allowed those who had benefited from the 50 per cent price to keep their full discount.

Young guns on Red Devils’ radar

When England Under 21s face France Under 21s in Lorient on Friday night, United will be among a host of clubs keeping a keen eye on proceedings.

Both Liam Delap (England) and Hugo Ekitike (France) have admirers at Old Trafford, and the pair are among a group of forwards being monitored ahead of the summer.

England and France have two of the deepest Under 21 squads in Europe heading towards this summer’s Under 21 European Championship, and both Delap and Ekitike are expecting to be facing several offers from clubs to sign them before next season.

A new forward is an essential piece of the puzzle for Ruben Amorim, with the United head coach eager to land a striker who can run in behind as well as ease the pressure on the shoulders of Rasmus Hojlund.

Chelsea are also interested in Delap, who is under contract at Ipswich Town until June 2029. A strong Euros this summer could send his price tag rocketing, even with the Tractor Boys expected to be relegated back to the Championship.

Ekitike, also 22, is thriving at Eintracht Frankfurt and is one United are looking at closely.

Question time for OT

A week on from the great stadium unveil and it seems there are still more questions than answers regarding United’s plans to replace Old Trafford.

Not just how Sir Jim Ratcliffe could announce the £2billion project 24 hours after telling the world United could have gone bust by Christmas, or the practicality of floating chunks of a 100,000-seater stadium down the Manchester Ship Canal.

Were we looking at the final design for United’s new home? The images were conceptual, we were told, but Ratcliffe’s heart seems set on the trident plan and asking his old friend Lord Foster to turn the dream into reality.

As a public limited company (PLC), United are theoretically obligated to put the job out to tender and Foster + Partners are renowned within the industry for being on the pricey side. Would they attempt to build it themselves or bring in a specialist partner, as was the case with Wembley and the Lusail Stadium in Qatar?

And what of the overall cost and plans to have United playing in a new stadium by 2030? Insiders believe both estimates are out by up to 50 per cent, meaning United might end up paying closer to £3billion and waiting another eight years.

Just ask Amorim. ‘You imagine the future,’ said United’s head coach last week. ‘You see the stadium but it’s more than that, it’s the future of the club. It’s an amazing stadium, but it is in five years. I think maybe six, maybe seven, I don’t know, so we need to focus on the present.’

Then there’s the huge canopy covering 104,068 square metres, which massively increases the footprint of the stadium in an already tight space. It is likely to be made of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene or polytetrafluoroethylene, for anyone who knows the difference. So will it be totally waterproof or largely cosmetic? Some aren’t sure.

And, finally, the trident. When Confidential listened to the designers last week, there seemed to be some confusion over how they ended up paying homage to the Red Devil emblem.

Was it a collaborative effort or Lord Foster’s idea? Or perhaps a realisation reached in hindsight when someone noticed that the three masts holding up the canopy loosely resembled the forks of a trident?

Trident tested

Continuing the trident debate, was it a clever piece of marketing to have a Red Devil banner displayed across the Stretford End before last week’s Europa League win over Real Sociedad as a nod to the stadium announcement two days earlier? Red and white flares made sure no one missed it.

No, is the answer. Sources have told Confidential that the idea was proposed and pushed by fans’ group The Red Army to lift the atmosphere before a big game that saw United reach the quarter-finals of the competition.

If Amorim’s side overcome Lyon next month, they will face either Athletic Bilbao or Rangers in the last four. The former would see United return to the Basque Country, following their clash with Sociedad in San Sebastian, and visit the San Mames Stadium which will also host the Europa League final in May.

The latter would see another Battle of Britain with Rangers after United beat the Glasgow club 2-1 at Old Trafford in the league phase in January.

Lyon ticket rush

Whenever United come to town, it is invariably big news for the opposition. But even with that in mind, staff at Lyon were blown away by a record number of ticket sales in 24 hours for their Europa League quarter-final against the Red Devils.

More than 25,000 tickets were sold in the first day of sales, with season-ticket holders able to purchase up to six tickets each, which many have evidently chosen to take up.

Lyon’s highest attendance in the Europa League this season was the crowd of 41,091 that saw them against Eintracht Frankfurt back in December, but the visit of United is set to obliterate that.

Their Groupama Stadium can hold just north of 59,000 supporters and executives are growing increasingly optimistic that a sell-out, or close to it, is in order for the visit of Amorim’s team.

Andre has an eye for goal

Andre Onana was touch and go to play in goal at Leicester on Sunday until the morning of the match, with United giving their keeper as long as possible to recover from a bout of conjunctivitis in his left eye.

Onana first experienced problems on Friday and his condition worsened considerably on Saturday despite club doctors giving him eye drops.

However, he was declared fit on Sunday morning and went on to produce a solid performance at the King Power Stadium, making two notable saves from Jamie Vardy in United’s 3-0 win.

The Cameroon international was able to fly home via Paris on Monday to report for duty ahead of the World Cup qualifiers against Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) and Libya.

Blade runner Rasmus

The first of United’s goals at Leicester saw Rasmus Hojlund end a barren run lasting more than 22 hours, so it would be mean to begrudge the Denmark striker his trademark cut-throat celebration borrowed from the Gladiator movies.

Given that English football has invested millions in schemes aimed at reducing violent behaviour and knife crime, there is an argument that Hojlund’s actions could be deemed inappropriate.

But Confidential understands that the FA have a relaxed view on the matter and won’t be telling Hojlund to stop.

Bruno shows Keane class

Bruno Fernandes might have scored his fifth goal in three matches at Leicester – and added another two assists for good measure – but he still spent his post-match interview responding to more barbs from Roy Keane.

The former United captain turned pundit has been a long-time critic of the current skipper, but Fernandes’ restraint was admirable as he was asked about it on Sky Sports and chose to stay classy.

‘Obviously you are talking about Roy Keane and I have said it before, I have a huge respect for Roy Keane,’ said Fernandes.

‘He was one of the best captains the club has ever had, an amazing player for the club who won everything for this club. It’s the way he thinks, the idea he has about me, as a player and as a captain. I have to respect that.

‘I accept there is a lot of margin for improvement in my game, my leadership, everything I do, even in my own life.’

Whether Fernandes would be quite so diplomatic in private is another matter, but for now the Portugal star is doing his talking on the pitch.

Non-stop Diogo

While Fernandes was picking up another man of the match award at Leicester, it will have escaped most people’s attention that his compatriot Diogo Dalot clocked up another 90 minutes at the King Power Stadium.

Dalot was voted players’ player of the year at United last season for his performances filling in on the left side of defence for Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia.

Although the Portugal defender – who turns 26 today – might not have reached the same levels this season, his hard work and resilience are undiminished. Dalot has played the most minutes of any United player and is said to be relentless in his recovery and preparation work to avoid injury.

Once again, he has played out of position due to Shaw’s continued absence, Malacia leaving on loan in the January transfer window and, more recently, new signing Patrick Dorgu missing three domestic games through suspension.

But Dalot’s availability – and reliability – has allowed Amorim to use him on the left rather than play someone else out of position or throw in one of the youngsters like Harry Amass ahead of schedule.

Ruben’s rest cure

Amorim will have a well-earned rest during the first week of the international break and has told any fit United players who are not away representing their countries to do the same.

Amorim admitted after the Leicester game that he is tired, and will spend some time relaxing with his family.

The 40-year-old has given everyone else the week off apart from the injured players, who will continue to receive treatment at Carrington.

The squad will report early next week before other players return from international duty as United prepare to return to the East Midlands to face Nottingham Forest on April 1 and begin the final stretch of the season.

Teenage kicks

Amorim has shown a greater willingness in recent weeks to give the club’s stable of young players a chance, with 18-year-old Amass becoming the 253rd academy graduate to make a first-team debut on Sunday.

Amass made it off the bench at the 17th attempt, having been an unused substitute on 16 occasions.

Chido Obi (17) has also broken through under Amorim and Ayden Heaven (18) is another to make the grade in recent matches. Only an unfortunate ankle injury at Leicester prevented him from getting 90 minutes on his first Premier League start.

But an analysis of minutes handed to teenagers shows that United rank second, only behind Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur, with 2,129 minutes shared between five players.

MOST MINUTES GIVEN TO TEENAGERS 

Tottenham Hotspur – 2,839 (7 players)

UNITED – 2,129 (5)

Bournemouth – 1,692 (3)

Southampton – 1,566 (2)

Arsenal – 1,367 (2)

Brighton – 1,279 (2)

Irish jig for Jack

Congratulations to United academy midfielder Jack Moorhouse after he received his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland Under 21s.

Moorhouse has been on the fringes of the first team since the turn of the year after catching Amorim’s eye with a dazzling display behind-closed-doors at Carrington for the Under 21s against Southampton.

The youngster has had a difficult few years with injury, but has impressed coaches with how he bounced back from adversity and Ireland staff were keen to reward him in this international break by calling him up for friendlies against Hungary and Scotland.

Ngwashi fast-tracked

Here’s one to watch: 16-year-old Jayden Ngwashi. Only a matter of weeks after the teenage defender made his league debut for the Under 18s, Ngwashi was promoted to play for United’s Under 21s in Premier League 2.

On Friday, head coach Travis Binnion gave Ngwashi 10 minutes at the end of a 5-1 win over West Brom at Leigh Sports Village.

Figures at United, as well as in the youth ranks of the England setup, are big admirers of Ngwashi’s game and there is a great deal of hope about his ceiling as a player as he continues to be accelerated through the age groups.