Manchester United have been granted the weekend off after the Premier League decided to postpone fixtures out of respect for Her Majesty the Queen, who passed away aged 96 on Thursday.
United were originally scheduled to travel to Selhurst Park to play Crystal Palace at 4.30pm on Sunday afternoon. Instead, players have been given the weekend off by Erik ten Hag, who himself enjoyed the break by going cycling with his wife on Saturday afternoon.
The Red Devils’ next match will instead come on Thursday, when they travel to Moldova to take on FC Sheriff in the Europa League. In the meantime, there is plenty of news around the club, including updates on Cristiano Ronaldo, Antony and Antony Martial. Mirror Football takes you through the latest headlines here.
Antony learning from Ronaldo
Manchester United new boy Antony is keen to learn from Cristiano Ronaldo after joining the club in a deal which could be worth £85.5million from Ajax this summer. Antony has made a decent start to life at United, scoring on debut in the 3-1 win over Arsenal, but he is still looking for pointers from Ronaldo.
"Words can’t describe Cristiano, the best in the world," he told the club's official website. "In just a few days, I’ve learnt a lot from him. He has an extraordinary mind and, whenever I talk to him, I take a lot from it.
"I’m sure that we have a strong attack and it’s very promising for the future. I’ve come to help my teammates. Regardless of age, there’s immense talent in all the players."
United overpaid for transfers
Manchester United’s recruitment team were fully aware that they were paying over the odds for Lisandro Martinez, Antony and Casemiro this summer, according to reports.
United ended up spending over £200m on transfers this summer, with the aforementioned trio joining alongside Christian Eriksen and Tyrell Malacia. Antony cost £85.5m, Martinez £55m and Casemiro £70m – major fees which reflect the desperate situation they were in after spending much of the summer chasing Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
Reports suggest that United's recruitment team have accepted they should have abandoned their pursuit of De Jong earlier in the window in order to shift their attention elsewhere.
Martial hits out at ex-managers
Anthony Martial has conducted an explosive interview with France Football in which he laid into Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Martial has accused Mourinho of disrespect after the former United manager took his No9 shirt off him and gave it to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, despite his protests. The Frenchman also blames Mourinho for his failure to go to the 2018 World Cup with his country.
He also had harsh words for Solskjaer. He claims that the Norwegian forced him to play while he was nursing injuries to save his own skin.
“The coach did not bother to tell the media and obviously I ended up getting injured. I took it very badly. I had a feeling of injustice,” Martial said. “You are being asked to sacrifice yourself for the team - and then you are dismissed. For me, it is almost treachery. That’s what I hate. I can be blamed - but not for being fake.”
