Jamie Carragher has defended Manchester United chief Richard Arnold after he was secretly filmed discussing the club's issues.
The club's new CEO is tasked with turning things around at Old Trafford having just hired Erik ten Hag following the recent departure of Ed Woodward, who was previously making the big calls on the red half of Manchester. Arnold has also made funds available for the new man in the dugout.
However he has allowed John Murtough to lead the club's transfer activity, citing the criticism previously levelled at Woodward, who made football decisions rather than employing someone with more experience to do so. The underhand tactics that were used to film the club chief have been raised by Carragher however.
Whilst he confesses there is a clamour for fans to hear more from the leading lights at their clubs, the Sky Sports pundit highlighted how Arnold's views are now in the public eye. He said on social media: "Every fan moans about not getting access to people at the top of their club, this is the reason why they don’t. Fair play to Richard Arnold."
Arnold's in-tray is certainly due to keep him busy and he discussed their interest in Frenkie De Jong, who is among Ten Hag's top targets amid a midfield exodus, led by Paul Pogba. Arnold appeared to suggest that money was no object in their pursuit of the Dutchman.
He said: "Money is not a consideration on who we want. The manager wants him (De Jong) and they have actually done the work. He's a great player. Is it £100 million or £200million? I don't know. Get who you f***ing want. Do you want me buying the players? Does that not ring a bell?"
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His last comment seemed to be a swipe at Woodward, who was heavily involved in the club's transfer activity despite having no prior experience of handling such matters. As a result huge sums were spent on players who flopped and were subsequently moved on.
Arnold claimed: “We spent a billion pounds on players. We have spent more than anyone in Europe. I’m not thrilled where we are. It doesn’t sit easy with me and I worry how we get this sorted for the future. What’s happened is we have f***ing burned through cash.
“You can’t go to our training ground and say ‘show me where the £1billion is because we haven’t spent money well historically. I’m not here to defend (chairman) Joel (Glazer). He must speak for himself."
