Gary Neville has been left fuming after Manchester United are set to pay a dividend to shareholders the Glazer family of nearly £11million.
Dividends are paid twice every year, in January and June, and while the Glazers are being paid, they have failed to invest properly in the football club - previously taking sums of money from the club with debts rising to nearly £500m as a result. An increase of 11.8 per cent was seen from last year.
According to the Manchester Evening News, out of £10.7m of last year's dividends, the Glazers received £8m. However Neville insisted that the money taken out by the owners should be used to invest in the playing squad and the redevelopment of Old Trafford.
Neville wrote on Twitter: "The Glazer Family should NOT be taking £11m in dividends this Friday. It isn’t right with the investment needed in the team, stadium and training ground. The clubs cash position is low compared to previous years. An announcement is needed to halt it for the next 3 years minimum."
United co-chairman Joel Glazer, who attended a fans' forum last year, has previously addressed the dividend payments. "I know this is a subject that a lot of people have a lot of different views on, but when we take things and look at things as a whole, we think that Manchester United is a very well-run club and we think clubs throughout football could take a look at us, and there's a lot of good to be seen when it comes to some of these things that are controversial," he said.
"You know, we're able to spend with the top clubs throughout Europe, whether it's wages or transfer fees, we've been able to keep our ticket prices low, we've not increased them in over 10 years. We're able to pay a dividend but it's a modest proportion of our five to six hundred million pounds of revenue. It's less than three per cent of that.
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"We're able to do all these things and that's to me the sign of a well-run club. It has never stood in the way of us pursuing players or transfers on the pitch. We may have walked away from transfers at times because the other side wanted an outlandish number.
"And while it's easy to pay it that one time, it does have consequences. You do it once and the next person expects it, and then the next person expects it. And that's not good, ultimately, for the club. So, we think that we're able to accomplish all these things and still have a very, very successful club and invest, and do everything that is necessary for a club of our stature."
Meanwhile, United have been quiet on the announcing of new signings thus far - despite targeting players with the likes of Frenkie De Jong, Antony, Jurrien Timber and Lisandro Martinez. The United faithful will be hoping the new boss Erik ten Hag can make those additions to the squad.
Ajax star Antony is keen on making the reportedly switch to Old Trafford and reunite with his former boss, while Barcelona are holding out a £73m transfer fee for De Jong with the club set to make a second bid after seeing their opening offer of £51m rejected. In addition, Martinez has a price tag of £43m and the Old Trafford officials are battling with rivals Arsenal for his signature.
