Manchester United have banned several high-profile journalists from attending Erik ten Hag‘s press conference on Tuesday.
Sky Sports chief reporter Kaveh Solekhol, the Manchester Evening News’ chief United correspondent Samuel Luckhurst, The Mirror’s David McDonnell and Rob Dawson of ESPN have all been refused entry to the media briefing at their Carrington training base ahead of Wednesday’s game against Chelsea.
The order came from Andrew Ward, United’s communications director, over what the club claimed was the reporters’ failure to contact them for comment before publication of stories.
‘We believe this is an important principle to defend and we hope it can lead to a re-set in the way we work together,’ the club added.
It is not clear whether the ban is just for today’s press conference, with Ten Hag due to address the media at 1:30pm, or for all future briefings with the manager until further notice.
According to the MEN, Ward, who joined the club in 2019, has previously stopped reporters from putting questions to Ten Hag because of perceived negative coverage.
Several outlets this week have reported that United’s stars are losing faith in Ten Hag amid the club’s dismal showing so far this season.
United have already lost 10 matches despite an outlay of more than £180m in the summer transfer window, although they have been dealing with injuries to several key players.
The MEN reported on Tuesday that several senior players have been left startled at the poor quality of signings made by the Dutch manager, including £72million Danish striker Rasmus Hojlund, £60m Mason Mount and Antony, who joined from Ajax for £82m. They insist the story was ‘well-sourced’.