Erik ten Hag admits he is in the dark over Manchester United's budget for the summer transfer window as the club's owners mull over takeover proposals.
The Glazer family have received bids from Ineos and Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, as well as offers from potential investors, after announcing a "strategic review" in November.
Representatives on behalf of Sheikh Jassim were invited to Old Trafford and United's Carrington training complex as part of the process. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the founder of petrochemicals company Ineos, visited the bases in person.
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United are well poised to return to the Champions League next season, have already won the League Cup and are in the FA Cup final against Manchester City.
A striker is Ten Hag's priority, with the United manager's preferred target the Tottenham talisman Harry Kane. Ten Hag also wants a midfielder, having endorsed approaches for Frenkie de Jong or Jude Bellingham, while United have also held discussions with Bayer Leverkusen right-back Jeremie Frimpong. The club are also likely to be in the market for a goalkeeper and a centre half.
United have drawn up a long list of sellable squad players to meet Uefa and the Premier League's financial regulations but an elite striker and a midfielder are likely to set them back at least £200million.
When asked if he knew if he would have funds for the summer irrespective of the ownership situation, Ten Hag replied: "No, I don’t have influence on that.
"I don’t have… also I don’t know. The only thing I know is that Man Utd is one of the biggest clubs in the world, one of the biggest two or three from a fanbase perspective.
"The club has to compete for the highest in the world, Champions League, Premier League, but football you need funds to construct squads because in the end of the day, the level from your players decides if you are successful or not.
"Everyone knows you need funds to construct a squad and high-level players cost a lot of money and that’s the situation nowadays in top football."
Joel and Avram Glazer are the co-chairmen at United and the Manchester Evening News reported in February they are "reluctant sellers". Their siblings Bryan, Kevin, Edward and Darcie are also on the board of directors.
Avram Glazer was in the directors' box for the first game of the season against Brighton at Old Trafford, having last attended a home game three years earlier. Joel Glazer has not been to a United game since the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Barcelona in April 2019.
With the ownership process nearing the six-month mark, Ten Hag is eager for clarity before the window opens on June 10. "Yeah. I think it’s clear what I want but it’s not up to me, it’s about others in this club.
"The family are the owners, they make the decisions, it’s not up to me. So I do everything I can and I influenced the processes I’m in charge of.
"Where I can take my influence I will do on the processes but that is not my job or responsibility, so I don’t have the power to influence that.
"So I’m focusing on improving the squad, the team development, so I have to make sure the team is progressing and I’m focusing on that.
"I - we - see this as a project and the project also belongs that in your windows you strengthen your squad's needs or to make investments so you get more balance, you bring young players in.
"I think we have already shown the improvement that we can beat the best teams in the world. I think we can compete in the Champions League. I think we have shown we can compete but we want to knock them all about and there is some way to go."
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