Man United are set to lose a considerable number of their current squad this summer and former Red Devils’ defender Rio Ferdinand has criticised his ex-employers for the send-offs they give players
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Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has criticised the Red Devils for the send-offs they give to players, with a number of the squad set to depart this summer.
Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Edinson Cavani and Juan Mata are all out of contract this summer, whilst midfielder Nemanja Matic has already announced that he is set to quit Old Trafford following five years with the club.
All of the departing players have already said their farewells to Red Devils’ fans, with United having already negotiated their final home match of the campaign with a 3-0 victory over Brentford over a fortnight ago. Ferdinand has moved to criticise the club for their seeming lack of effort in saying goodbye to their stalwarts, drawing on his own experience having departed in 2014.
Speaking on his Vibe with FIVE podcast, the former defender said: “I think United are one of the worst at doing it. You see clubs abroad when players who have given big chunks of their career, been successful to the clubs, the send-offs they get are phenomenal and rightly so.
“But it’s not something… United don’t really treat it with the kind of importance you see at other clubs. I’m not saying you deserve it but sometimes when you feel you’ve given a lot of yourself to a football club, it’s a nice way to go.
“But it happens, I was actually p****d off for a while with the way I got told, I’m over it now, it’s cool.”
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One player whose exit has been taken exception to is that of Jesse Lingard. Having been part of the Red Devils’ set-up since the age of seven, the England international is expected to exit the club this summer, with his current deal set to expire in a month-and-a-half.
He was not given the chance for an Old Trafford swansong though, with interim boss Ralf Rangnick leaving him on the bench – a decision that did not go down particularly well with Lingard’s brother. Ferdinand has revealed he sympathises with Lingard and his family following the lengthy service that the 29-year-old has given to the club.
He continued: “Jesse’s brother, I understand how they feel, hot behind the collar, not happy with what’s happened. My family members were not happy but my family would never have gone on social media and talked freely like that, I told them, my family knew that, there was an understanding.
“But everyone’s different, Jesse’s brother obviously felt the way he did, but you’ve got to show a bit of awareness, look at the history of what United have done with players who have done more than Jesse, they haven’t been afforded that send-off, so you’d probably put the brakes on reacting the way he did, but everyone’s different.”
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