London: Richard Arnold, Managing Director of the Manchester United group, has confirmed that they had to postpone pre-season plans in India due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Regardless, the club is still hoping to visit the Asian country for the games after things normalise and get better, although there will be no tour this summer after an extended Premier League campaign.
Last summer, the Red Devils spent their time in Australia and Asia and were expected to visit India this time as part of their summer tour during the three-month break between March and June — normal months for some pre-season games.
The Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, who has already confirmed their Champions League spot for the upcoming year, play at Leicester City this Sunday (August 2), to conclude their season. Arnold, who operates closely with Manchester United Chief Executive Ed Woodward, explained how things work at United and their ambition to be the first Premier League team to play in India.
“We don’t tend to think in terms of market,” Arnold asserted. “The fans are all part of a big family. India is an important part of our family. We have been organising live screenings. For the first team to play in India, it has been on our minds for some time now. We planned to make a trip this summer, but we could not because of the COVID situation. But we will try to make a trip to India in the future.”
Furthermore, he also stated how the club stood together as a unit in exercising monetary eternities during this pandemic. United was praised for their efforts during this lockdown by delivering food packets to helpless people and withholding to absent staff.
“Resilience is one of the core components of the club’s DNA,” said Arnold. “It prides itself on hiring and developing talent accordingly. As Sir Alex Ferguson said, United is never beaten, they just run out of time sometimes. That’s the philosophy that inspired the 1999 Champions League as the fans called it, the Fergie time. Just like that, we refuse to be beaten down. That’s the culture we have off the pitch as well.
“This is the second or third global crisis we have seen while I’ve been part of the club but the club came through everything and grew stronger. We invested in technology, young players. This resilience is what you hear from everyone associated with Manchester United,” he concluded.
