20 November 2023 , 14:19
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Manchester United's former chief global scout has slammed the Glazers' running of the club after he was dismissed for "political" reasons.
Marcel Bout, who joined the Red Devils alongside Louis van Gaal in 2014, left Old Trafford in April of last year ahead of Erik ten Hag's arrival as manager. Bout claims that United figures didn't want an "influential" group of Dutchmen at the club and also believes that the hierarchy were too slow in making decisions on top young talents, naming Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong - both of whom Ten Hag coached at Ajax - as two prime examples.
"I could have been an ideal guide for Ten Hag within the club," the ex-United scout, recently linked with a move to top-four rivals Newcastle, told Dutch outlet Algemeen Dagblad. "But United is not only a fantastic club, but also a difficult club. Everything is politically and commercially driven. My dismissal was a political dismissal. An influential Dutch bloc, not everyone liked that."
Bout then detailed how he grew to be 'annoyed' with the Red Devils during his eight-year stay, even expressing his concerns directly to club chiefs. "I have been critical internally," the 61-year-old revealed. "A major annoyance was the long delays within United to make decisions about interesting players.
"Other top European clubs now have top players that we had seen early on with the scouting staff. The 17-year-old Matthijs de Ligt was then playing for Ajax, later Frenkie de Jong followed suit. 'Make sure that United makes a deal early on for these types of talents. Then you can always let them develop for a while in the Netherlands,' I said."
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The Red Devils evidently didn't heed his advice and lost out in the race to sign De Ligt in 2019. The Dutch centre-back joined Juventus in a £68million transfer deal and is now at Bayern Munich. Meanwhile, Ajax team-mate De Jong left to sign for Barcelona.
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Matthijs de Ligt joined Juventus in 2019 and now plays for Bayern Munich (CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP via Getty Images)
Manchester United chased Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong to no avail last summer (Alex Caparros/Getty Images)Last summer, United dedicated masses of time and effort attempting to sign the Netherlands midfielder after Ten Hag made him his No.1 target. De Jong, though, wasn't keen to leave Catalunya.
Now the Red Devils' football department is set to be overhauled, with INEOS chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe hoping to seal a £1.3billion deal to acquire a 25 per cent stake in the club within the coming days. Ratcliffe, who's Britain's second-richest man, has been left unimpressed when reviewing United's sporting operations and key figures such as football director John Murtough are on the chopping block.