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Last Christmas, Manchester United’s leadership team, including Jim Ratcliffe and the club’s hierarchy, decided against hosting a holiday celebration. The decision came on the heels of a significant reduction in staff, with 250 positions being eliminated, which left workplace morale at a historic low.
Opting to cancel the party saved the club over £100,000. Instead of the usual £100 annual staff bonus, employees received a £40 gift voucher from Marks & Spencer.
However, according to sources, this year brings a change in plans. Chief Executive Omar Berrada has announced that a Christmas celebration will indeed take place. All staff members are invited to the event, which will be held in one of the large suites at Old Trafford. The festivities will include food and live music, much to the delight of employees who have warmly received the news.
This reinstatement of the staff party marks a positive shift in the club’s atmosphere following two challenging years of stringent budget cuts under the minority ownership of Ineos.
Chief executive Omar Berrada (right) has decided to hold a Christmas bash this year, with all staff invited to attend the event in one of the bigger suites at Old Trafford
Despite further reducing the workforce from 1,150 to 700 employees and implementing additional austerity measures—such as eliminating free staff lunches—the club has managed to save millions, setting a more optimistic tone for the future.
With United on a sounder financial footing and morale much improved, it was decided that having a Christmas party was the right thing to do as the club enters a brighter future.
Mouzakitis on Reds’ radar
United scouts were in Piraeus last week to run the rule over exciting Olympiacos midfielder Christos Mouzakitis as the Greeks lost a Champions League thriller 4-3 to Real Madrid.
Mouzakitis, 18, is emerging as one of the hottest properties in European football, and on Monday he became the first ever Greek winner of the Golden Boy Web award. Organised by Tuttosport, Mouzakitis amassed 473,000 votes, equivalent to 39 per cent.
The Corfu-born player, who started his career as a goalkeeper, is attracting widespread interest and Madrid are believed to be weighing up an offer in the region of £25million.
Xabi Alonso praised Mouzakitis after his Real Madrid side’s 4-3 win, which was watched by scouts from United and Chelsea. Arsenal are also believed to be monitoring his progress.
Christos Mouzakitis is one of the hottest properties in European football and Manchester United scouts watched the Olympiacos midfielder in action against Real Madrid last week
On Monday the 18-year-old became the first ever Greek winner of the Golden Boy Web award
Palace ticket probe
United have been left frustrated with Crystal Palace after they removed tickets from the away allocation for their 2-1 win at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
Confidential understands at least 40 seats in the away end were taken from United’s allocation by Palace, who then sold them on. It’s not clear who made the request or who the seats were purchased by. United sought an explanation for the issue, which is not common at away games, and have escalated it to the Premier League.
Sources say United are frustrated with the outcome as the tickets were not sold to visiting supporters, as they should have been.
Tickets in United’s away ends are sold exclusively to seasonal facility holders and are oversubscribed for every fixture, with applications from that small group outnumbering the number of available seats by four to one.
United fans show their appreciation during the club’s 2-1 win at Selhurst Park on Sunday… but should there have been at least 40 more of them in the away end?
New twist in Onana’s Cameroon rift
Andre Onana’s shock exclusion from the Africa Cup of Nations cuts to the heart of rumours of corruption and bitter in-fighting in Cameroonian football.
The Manchester United goalkeeper, currently on loan at Trabzonspor in Turkey, has been left out of new manager David Pagou’s squad for the tournament that kicks off in Morocco later this month along with other prominent players such as captain Vincent Aboubakar, Frank Anguissa, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Wolves defender Jackson Tchatchoua.
United forward Bryan Mbeumo is one of the leading candidates to take the armband from Aboubakar. It follows the re-election of controversial Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) president Samuel Eto’o last week and his decision to replace head coach Marc Brys with Pagou on the eve of the tournament.
Onana has a long-standing rift with Eto’o and Daily Mail Sport revealed two years ago that a former Fecafoot vice-president blamed the legendary Barcelona and Chelsea striker for Onana’s exile from the national team after he was sent home from the World Cup in Qatar following a fallout with Eto’o and Brys’s predecessor Rigobert Song.
Henry Njalla Quan, who also accused Eto’o of threatening his family, said the Fecafoot supremo wanted to get rid of Onana ‘at all costs’ before he joined United from Inter Milan for £47.2million in the summer of 2023.
Onana made a U-turn on his announcement to retire from international football just weeks after moving to Old Trafford, but questioned that decision after United lobbied Cameroon to keep him until just before AFCON 2023 kicked off and he played just one of his country’s four games at the tournament.
Andre Onana, seen here on potentially his last appearance for United in their shock Carabao Cup defeat by Grimsby, is rebuilding his reputation out on loan at Trabzonspor
His surprise exclusion from Cameroon’s Africa Cup of Nations squad comes after years of tension between the goalkeeper and legendary striker Samuel Eto’o
Since then, Eto’o has been mired in allegations of match-fixing, which he denies, and an ethics breach for representing a betting company, which brought a £150,000 fine that was quashed on appeal.
More recently, a power struggle between Fecafoot and the Cameroon Ministry of Sport saw Brys sacked and then re-instated within 48 hours.
Following Eto’o’s re-election, it was no surprise that Brys was axed again on Monday and new boss Pagou left Onana out of his squad little more than two weeks after he earned his 53rd cap in a World Cup qualifying play-off defeat by DR Congo.
Ironically, Onana first came to prominence playing at the Samuel Eto’o Academy in Cameroon before moving to Europe with Barcelona, Ajax, Inter and United.
FIFA informed clubs on Monday that they can keep African players until December 15, the same night United face Bournemouth at Old Trafford, so Ruben Amorim will be hopeful that Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui are available.
No hurry for Harry
December’s here and the clock is ticking for Casemiro and Harry Maguire, who can speak to overseas clubs in just 30 days’ time unless United decide to extend their Old Trafford careers.
Confidential understands neither player has a concrete offer on the table at the moment, although United still have time to stop them from leaving as free agents in the summer.
Maguire’s £180,000-a-week contract will run out at the end of June, six years after he joined in a £80million move from Leicester, and United must decide whether to offer the 32-year-old a new deal.
The contract clock is ticking for Casemiro and Harry Maguire, who can speak to overseas clubs in just 30 days’ time
Maguire’s £180,000-a-week contract will run out at the end of June and United must decide whether to offer the 32-year-old a new deal
The club still have an option to trigger a 12-month extension clause in the £375,000-a-week contract Casemiro signed when he arrived from Real Madrid for £70m in 2022, although another option would be for the 33-year-old to accept a new deal on a lower salary.
United are determined to drive down their wage bill, and Maguire and Casemiro are two of the bigger earners as well as being among the oldest players in the squad.
Wilcox spreads the word
Safe to say the mood behind the scenes after beating Palace on Sunday afternoon was very jovial outside of the United dressing room.
Bruno Fernandes’ brother Ricardo, who lives in London and plays for ninth-tier side Roffey FC, was seen mingling with the squad post-match, as well as having a long chat with a buoyant Ruben Amorim.
The brothers – no chance you could mistake them for anything else – were not the only ones deep in conversation.
Players were seen cajoling Leny Yoro before the team boarded the coach home, while Luke Shaw and Mason Mount were among those catching up with media members before heading back.
Director of football Jason Wilcox was in a good mood alongside chief operating officer Collette Roche as he repeated the ‘trust the process’ mantra he has been consistent with all the way through the recent ups and downs.
If anyone doubts the spirit or camaraderie in the group right now, what was seen behind the scenes at Palace was a sign that the players firmly believe this is a group trending upward under Amorim.
The mood of United’s players was jovial after Mason Mount (right) fired them to victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday
Stars align for Jon
Fernandes and Mount are among the United stars who have contributed signed items to an auction raising money for the family of Jon Humble, the club’s former kit man who tragically passed away last month at the age of 44.
Lisandro Martinez and former United winger Alejandro Garnacho have also autographed match-worn shirts, boots and other items for the auction that has been organised by the women’s team. Humble was lead kit man for the women’s team and also worked with the men’s academy during six years with the club.
Two England shirts signed by Ella Toone, Maya Le Tissier, Jess Park and their team-mates from the Lionesses are being auctioned on the MatchWornShirt website along with others from Norway, Canada and Wales.
Ruben’s unwanted record
Never a day goes by where Amorim isn’t reminded that he can enter the record books for all the wrong reasons.
On Thursday against West Ham at Old Trafford, he is looking to avoid breaking a 131-year record. If the Hammers win, Amorim will go down in history as the quickest manager to lose 10 top-flight games at Old Trafford since the late 19th century.
Amorim is currently on nine defeats from 19 games, which means he could comfortably beat the current record holder, AH Albut, who lost 10 in 23 games back in 1894.
If Ruben Amorim loses to West Ham on Thursday, he will go down in history as the quickest manager to lose 10 top-flight games at Old Trafford since the late 19th century
A happier milestone for Luke Shaw – he made his 300th United appearance against Palace and looks back to his best
Luke what we got you!
As is now customary at United, earlier today a big fuss was made in the players’ canteen to present Shaw with a signed shirt after his 300th appearance for the club.
Shaw arrived at United 11 years ago from Southampton and is still going strong, after a display at Palace in which he looked back to his best.
After training on Tuesday, Shaw was presented with a signed shirt and gave a speech to team-mates and staff about his long journey at the club.
Kids chasing Euro glory
For those looking for a football fix this evening, United Under 21s are in action over in Leigh in the Premier League International Cup against Anderlecht.
It may have gone under the radar just how a good job Travis Binnion has done so far this season with the Under 21s against tough opposition, not least from the continent.
Having beaten Athletic Bilbao at Old Trafford in their opening PLIC game, Anderlecht are next in town before Borussia Dortmund head to the Theatre of Dreams on December 19.
The competition is a Premier League initiative to get homegrown players facing tougher competition to improve their development, with the league funding travel and accommodation for European teams to come over given every game takes place in England.
United are third in Group C after one game – Sunderland, who are first, have played three times while second-placed Leeds United have played twice – and they need to finish in the top two to progress.
Having never won the competition, opportunity knocks for a United group boasting Shea Lacey, Jim Thwaites, Chido Obi and plenty more.
Top academy talent Shea Lacey is among the United youngsters benefiting from playing in the Premier League International Cup
Louie’s long road back
While it was JJ Gabriel’s stunning hat-trick that stole the headlines from the Under 18s’ 7-0 win over Liverpool last weekend, one of the most important stories to emerge for Darren Fletcher’s side was the return of Louie Bradbury.
The Welsh striker has had a gruelling 18 weeks out and his absence has left Fletcher without a recognised No 9 for most of the season, outside of a couple of appearances by Kai Rooney.
Bradbury’s return is timely after 126 days out, and he marked it with a poacher’s finish and an assist off the bench at Liverpool.
The 17-year-old scholar is back in the mix and ready to form a devastating front three with Gabriel and Bendito Mantato. No wonder United are growing confident ahead of their FA Youth Cup campaign.
Under 18s striker Louie Bradbury made his return to action after 126 days out against Liverpool, and he marked it with a poacher’s finish and an assist off the bench
With Bradbury back, no wonder United are growing confident ahead of their FA Youth Cup campaign
Muslim supporters’ match raises £7k
Confidential revealed last week than a historic match was taking place between the Muslim supporters’ groups of United and Chelsea at the London club’s Cobham training centre on Saturday.
The match, which Chelsea won, represented the first organised game between Muslim supporters’ groups from two Premier League clubs.
We’re happy to report that it was a hugee success and the two groups raised more than £7,000 for the Ummah Welfare Trust, the Manchester United Foundation and the Chelsea Foundation.
