"HE'LL BE PROFESSIONAL" Jamie Jackson offers UPDATE on Marcus Rashford's FUTURE at Man Utd

Let's talk Manchester United and some big issues when it comes to tickets at Old Trafford. The Manchester United Official Fans Forum, Manchester United Supporters Trust, the 1958 and five other such fan groups have complained to the club over supporters quotes being treated as suspects after some had season tickets suspended as part of a move to stop the illegal reselling of seats. United last week contacted fans who used six or more devices to access accounts linked to the club or to forward tickets, as in their view this suggested the potential buying of seats to resell. Members are allowed only to forward tickets to other members or sell them back to United. Jamie Jackson, Manchester reporter for The Guardian, joins us now. Jamie, I think this is a little bit concerning. I saw a video on social media overnight of a young fan, I think he's now six years of age, who has basically had his ticket suspended because obviously his mum was accessing it from various different devices. That can't be right, can it? Yeah, suspended is not quite the right term. What United are saying is that these accounts that they find questionable are being restricted. So yeah, I suppose that is one way of looking at it, but what they say, United, is that, you know, those who they contact have 14 days to sort of respond. If there is then a process, and they also say, United, that some people wrongly, maybe this person and her son will be caught sort of in the crossfire wrongly, and they understand that, but what they're saying is there will only be a ban if, you know, after an appeal of three days is not sort of successful. So still a lot further down the road. This process we're talking about, about season ticket holders being contacted, those that they find suspicious, has now stopped for the time being. And as you sort of, I think you read there from the intro from my story, it's those who have been sort of using six or more devices. But if you zoom out, as I think you were sort of saying, Alex, it's a little bit of a PR disaster, this, whatever the rights and wrongs are. I don't know if you noticed, actually, Liverpool yesterday issued bans, I believe, to sort of 400, let's say, fans or entities who they believe are guilty of ticket telling, which is what United are sort of trying to do. So you can sort of see from United's point of view what they're trying to do. They also say that any season tickets that are rescinded in the end will not be sort of chopped up into individual match day tickets to be sort of resold as, for example, corporate packages. They will be reissued as season tickets, because some supporters, United supporters, believe that's kind of part of the agenda here. But you know, PR wise, this is not looking great. Yeah, just on that Liverpool story, 432 lifetime bans issued. The club worked in conjunction with Merseyside Police to seize the assets from organised ticket tells. They've also issued 115 indefinite suspensions. I guess there's a fine line, Dara, isn't there, between stamping out ticket touting and, as Jamie says there, genuine fans who are caught in the crossfire. Crossfire elderly fans, for example. My father-in-law wouldn't be able to use... My dad's 76 and he's a nightmare. I try and send him Posh Plus to get access to our games and stuff. You've got to send a video of how to do it. Well, I can see why he wouldn't want to watch those. That's fine if he's a United fan. But the point is, it would be easy to go after the club, whether it be Man Utd or Liverpool. It's always the first thing. You guys in the media will always pick a story, like you just said, there's about some six-year-old and whatever else you can see, his beloved man United. I'm sure it was resolved and he's fine. That's the other side of the news article that's not been mentioned. But I think we need to clean up things like this. You said earlier to me about the States and the price of tickets and whatever else. A lot of that would be down to touting and what's going on. So I don't see a big drama about it. I don't know why this is a news story. Well, it's a news story because there's a lot of Manchester United fans, Jamie, as you say, who are very unhappy and suspicious about the club's motive for this. Do you think the club have done this? Well, listen, what I would say, and you correct me if I'm wrong, I don't actually think a lot of these top clubs want season ticket holders anymore, because I think they can make more money. So it's down to greed. You're accused of Man Utd in this, down to greed. Not just Manchester United, but I think the Premier League business model now lends itself towards having fewer season ticket holders and more tourist fans who are willing to pay big money just to attend a single game. Is that fair, Jamie? Well, yeah, I mean, it's interesting Darragh saying, and I understand completely what you're saying, Darragh, about it not being a story. Where we came into the Guardian was because, as Alex sort of said there from the story we did, because there's sort of so many fans groups, including actually the Fans Forum, which is the official United Fans Forum, had contacted on the record Manchester United, that's when we came in. I mean, I'd looked at this earlier in the day, actually, I believe it's two days ago now, and decided not to do anything. Kind of because of what you're saying, Darragh, so you're completely right, but once these sort of fans groups got involved, and as I say, wrote an email, you know, on the record, that's where we came in, because, you know, these fans groups, including Must and the 1958s, these are prominent fans groups, and actually for them all to get together, whether they're right or wrong, you know, is a sort of happening, if you like, a sort of new development news, so, you know, I can sort of see both sides of it. Yeah, listen, I think it's unfortunate, I don't think there's anything sinister at all from the club, but, you know, maybe United PR-wise, as I keep on mentioning these words, maybe should have flagged it a little bit better, or at all, beforehand, just to sort of maybe sort of soothe some of these fans, because they're concerned that, you know, some of them are genuine, they're going to have the season tickets taken away, which we don't need to explain necessarily, it's kind of their lifeblood going to Manchester United, as it is for any fan. It's raw as well, Darragh, because this is not the first time there have been issues with regards to tickets between United and their supporters. I get that. Last year the club came under heavy fire from fans forced to move out of their seats in order to make way for VIP hospitality. You've accused them of being told off. Around the same time there was a backlash from older fans who accused the club of trying to price them out of the games after a 50% discount was halved across the board to 25%, so I think Jamie's right, when it comes to PR, I mean, he doesn't seem to care, says Jim Rackniff and any of us, about the negativity. Yeah, look, I can't speak for the owners, I don't know, it's come from them, it's come from our, you know, CEO, higher management, the commercial department, who knows, you know. I understand the fans who are upset by it, I'm sure it'll get resolved for the people like the six-year-old and like the other people. I agree with you on the point about older fans, it's becoming more and more difficult for older fans with modern technology and the way ticket systems are and everything else. I always, when we were doing changes to our tech at our club, we offered an open day for a lot of the older fans to come down so we could do demonstrations in one of our lounges and actually show them how to get on Posh Plus. I know you laughed about it being Peter or whatever else, but again, a lot of our fan base are over the age of 70 and they're having an absolute scooby when it comes to some of this stuff. So, look, United have got to do better on that front. I guess we all do, sometimes, with communicating with fans, because otherwise, yeah, you get pulled up by the media and it's a bit tone-deaf. Back to the video shortly, but first the wait is over, United fans. The new season is cooking and the big questions are back. MUTV is the exclusive home of every Manchester United pre-season game. See the future of United live. Sky TV customer, watch it all on your biggest screen for just £7 extra a month. Just search MUTV on Sky to upgrade now. Existing Sky customers only, £7 per month on a 31-day rolling contract. Cancel any time with 31 days' notice. Jamie, let's talk about the football side of things when it comes to Manchester United. Three signings in so far. Carl Darlow as a backup goalkeeper, two midfielders, Andres Santos and Joeri Tillemans. What's the general feeling up in the North West? Are United fans happy with the business or a little bit underwhelmed? I think they're happy so far, but what I would suggest is those two signings there, very good players, particularly Tillemans, but look at what Tillemans costs and you get a clue with the Santos one, £48 million. That's not chump change, don't get me wrong. But if you look at Tenali going to Spurs, Elliot Anderson to Manchester City, high figures, I could go on. That suggests to me that United do not have the same kind of budget that we normally have. They will turn around and say in the end we're going to spend about £200-250 million. That's a lot of money and I get that because major surgery is still required. But it's interesting that at one point they were, from what I was told and what I reported, seriously in for Anderson, but then sort of balked at the figures. Now, were they ever seriously in for him? Surely they should have known the kind of price Forrest were asking. It's early days, what are we now, 23rd July, we've still got four or five weeks left of the window. But if these are your first two or three signings coming in, it's not an exact science, I could be pretty completely wrong, but if these are your flagship signings so far, I would suggest it's a little bit underwhelming. But as I say, I'm trying to be fair and balanced, there's still some time to go. Call me cynical, but there is a history isn't there, when it comes to Glazer ownership, and we forget sometimes, I think they're still the ones with their name above the door. They're willing to invest to get into the Champions League, and then when the club are actually in the Champions League, they tend to pull up the drawbridge a bit. Yeah, I mean, you know, you are right. And this is what's interesting about this, because with Champions League money, you know, coming in because they qualified again, and also just as commercial sort of enterprise size, the enterprise of Manchester United, they would seem to have, inverted commas, serious money to spend on a sort of marquee signing. Now, I don't know, will that be Camervinga, for example, at Real Madrid, who, again, is not in that sort of hundred million pound bracket. Listen, there's no guarantee you have to cost that much to be brilliant, but he would be more sort of 50 or 60, I'd suggest. But does he want to leave Real Madrid? You know, they're after a left back as well. Do they need another striker? Xerxes are sort of standing to Cesco, who didn't exactly pull up loads of trees, but did okay. I don't know. You know, I've reported on Manchester United sort of the day job since 2012, so it's sort of like a 14th season. It feels a bit samey yet again in the summer, where they're spending a bit, but actually, is there a coherent direction of travel? And obviously, this is Michael Carrick's, going to be his first full season in charge, but also competing in more than one competition, because it was just 17 Premier League games last term. So, from his point of view, you know, the first time sort of characters like me get to question, I'd be interested to see how he sort of reacts to some of these questions. He's very good at sort of stonewalling, of course, but, you know, I'd suggest he won't be overjoyed so far with the business done. Nothing against the players he's brought in, but what I'm saying is, what is coming down the line? And just a quick one on Marcus Rashford before you go. How do you see that situation evolving? Because obviously, he's not going to get that dream move to Barcelona now. I'm told he's turned down a move to Fenerbahce. At the moment, the plan is that he'll come back for pre-season training. His number 10 shirt has been given to Matthias Kuhnert. It doesn't seem like an ideal scenario for anybody. Yeah, great question, Alex. Basically, he was told yesterday that he's still sort of minded, head sort of clear to come in in three weeks' time after his break for the World Cup to play for Manchester United, but neither party really want this. It's about, you know, the wages. Well, the next two years of his contract, he'll be about 36 million. United want that off the books. Marcus Rashford doesn't really want to play for United anymore. You know, he'd be happy to sort of leave, but at the same time, if he has to stay, he'll be a professional, get his head down, and there's no issue with Michael Carrick. So, you know, you never know in football. Darragh can tell us sort of better than most how things can change. It is a profession. It is, you know, his livelihood. United have to be practical, so let's wait and see. But I would suggest that if the right deal comes in, he leaves.