Manchester United cancels mutual gifts sessions during preseason, traditional etiquette gives way to cost control

July 10th According to British media "talkSPORT", Manchester United plans to cancel the traditional stage of giving gifts with their opponents in the preseason this summer. Although rivals generally believe this is a measure taken by United to cut costs, Manchester United emphasized that the decision is a simplification of the sense of ritual and glitz, especially when facing native England opponents.

According to customary practice, clubs will exchange team flags, custom jerseys or other souvenirs in pre-season friendly matches, which is not only a traditional etiquette, but also helps to enhance the relationship between clubs. However, Manchester United will cancel the session for the first time in their July 19 match against Leeds United and may continue the approach in subsequent warm-up matches with West Ham, Bournemouth and Everton. As for whether the match against Fiorentina on August 9 will return to tradition, it has not yet been determined.

Manchester United said it will receive opponent executives through pre-match cocktail parties and other forms to replace gift exchanges. This change will be implemented first in the match against Leeds United. Manchester United believes that giving gifts to each other seems redundant or even outdated in the face of familiar opponents.

Although Manchester United denied that the move was due to budget pressure, after Inex took over, the club was indeed implementing a series of cost control measures, including layoffs, closure of staff restaurants, and termination of Sir Ferguson's ambassador position, etc., to deal with losses of more than £300 million in the past three years. Ratcliffe had previously said that his investment would be difficult to play if he did not stabilize his finances first.

It is not clear how much money this move will save for Manchester United, but some opponents have expressed surprise. Manchester United declined to comment further on this.