Manchester United have barred four journalists from Tuesday’s press conference (Picture: Getty Images)
Manchester United have banned four journalists from a press conference on Tuesday, explaining that they have done so as they were not contacted about certain stories before publication.
Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol, the Manchester Evening News’ Samuel Luckhurst, The Mirror’s David McDonnell, and Rob Dawson of ESPN have all been banned from the press conference ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League clash with Chelsea on Wednesday.
This comes after defeat to Newcastle at the weekend, the sixth loss in the Premier League already this season, led to a string of stories about unrest in the Red Devils squad.
It has been reported, among other things, that manager Erik ten Hag ‘has lost about 50 per cent of the dressing room’ amid United’s struggles for form and results this season so far, while some players are calling for the return of the exiled Jadon Sancho.
However, while the club says it is not because they simply do not like these stories, they have been angered by journalists not contacting them to give their side of the story.
A club statement read: ‘We’re taking action against a number of news organisations today, not for publishing stories we don’t like, but for doing so without contacting us first to give us the opportunity to comment, challenge or contextualise.
‘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.’
Pressure continues to mount on Erik ten Hag (Picture: Getty Images)
Ten Hag has the chance to relieve some pressure at Old Trafford on Wednesday when the Red Devils host Chelsea, the first of a trio of home matches on the spin.
Bournemouth visit on Saturday and then Bayern Munich next Tuesday in the final game of the Champions League group stage, which United must win to have any chance of progressing to the knockout rounds.
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