- Joel and Avram Glazer arrived in London ahead of Man United’s FA Cup clash
- The co-owners met Derek Chisora and posed for a photo with the pro boxer
- If Erik ten Hag wins the FA Cup with Man United, does he deserve to keep his job? Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast
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Joel and Avram Glazer were pictured in London on Friday ahead of Manchester United‘s FA Cup semi-final clash against Coventry City and seemingly bumped into their ‘old friend’ Derek Chisora while they were on a walk.
Erik ten Hag‘s side have endured a tumultuous campaign, but are still able to advance to the FA Cup final if they secure victory at Wembley on Sunday afternoon against their Championship opponents.
Away from the football field, there has been plenty of change behind the scenes at Old Trafford in the past 12 months, with the club’s owners, the Glazer family, agreeing a deal with Sir Jim Ratcliff that saw the petrochemicals magnate buy a minority stake in the club, worth £1.3billion.
United’s much maligned owners are scarcely seen in the public sphere, but on Friday, they were spotted walking the streets of London and were photographed chatting to Chisora on the side of the road.
The American brothers, who hail from New York, stopped for a chat with the professional boxer, with Avram posing for a selfie with the United fan and appeared in good spirits ahead of Sunday’s match.
Chisora subsequently posted a photo of himself and Avram on his Instagram.
The pair were seen smiling, as the British fighter captioned the image: ‘What a day catching up with my old friend.’
He re-posted the image on his story, adding a caption that read: ‘Good to see you old friend.’
Chisora is well known to be a Man United fan and back in 2022, delivered his verdict on how Erik ten Hag could motivate his team’s struggling players when he was first appointed as United boss.
‘I’d slap them up.’ he said to talkSPORT. ‘I’d tell them to wake up. They’re an embarrassment. They’re not playing for the badge anymore.
‘Even the whole Premier League is an embarrassment right now, none of them play for the badge anymore.
‘Back in the day, a derby was a derby. You would know that if Man United were playing Man City it’s going to be a great derby, if Arsenal were playing Tottenham it’s going to be a great derby.
‘I just think we have too many foreigners in the league, so the derby’s are done now.’
With Ratcliffe taking over football operations at the club, more change is likely to come at Old Trafford over the summer.
The Glazers, meanwhile, have been criticised in the past for their stewardship over the Red Devils.
It is reported that United’s net football debt – defined by UEFA as borrowings and transfer fees owing minus cash reserves – has grown from £12million at the time the American’s leveraged buyout in 2005 to a record £862million.
Fans have slammed the American owners in the past, with some claiming ‘they have been running the club into the ground’, after the Glazers took £33.6m in dividends from the club in 2022, after recording a loss of £115.5m.
In more recent times, United fans have staged fresh protests against the Glazers after it was revealed that they would be maintaining some ownership in the Man United – despite having put the club up for sale. Fans called for the ‘full sale’ with The 1958 group, a fan-led organisation, protesting outside of Old Trafford.
On the pitch, concerns are mounting over Ten Hag’s future at the club, with United’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season dangling by a thin thread.
The club crashed out of the European tournament last season, and have fallen to seventh in the Premier League, having won just one of their previous five league fixtures.
Despite that, United’s dramatic 4-3 victory against Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals has kept Ten Hag’s hopes of clinching silverware this season alive.
Earlier this week, he also sent a clear message that he would be staying on as the club’s manager, urging United to install an executive team that can deliver on his requirements – implying that he expects to stay on as United boss next season.
‘The plan is ready but we have to execute,’ he said. ‘I trust the new ownership will work as quickly as possible and bring new good structures, and they can execute.
‘Of course, I miss his (Murtough’s) support. He has moved on, and we worked very good together. I think it’s very important that the new ownership is working on this, to replace his function, to go into a new season.
‘As I said previously, I work with the new ownership very closely together. It doesn’t change the way I work here – perfect, still perfect. I am happy with that, but we want to set the right conditions to be successful.’
