Manchester United captain Harry Maguire is understood to have confronted Ed Woodward during an emergency briefing on Monday.
Woodward, United’s executive vice-chairman, held a meeting with staff and players over the newly-announced European Super League (ESL).
Man Utd have signed up to the hugely controversial competition as one of 12 founder members, alongside the likes of Real Madrid, Liverpool and Juventus.
United owner Joel Glazer has been named as vice-chairman of the ESL, while Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is the tournament’s first chairman.
In the ESL’s maiden statement, Glazer said: “By bringing together the world’s greatest clubs and players to play each other throughout the season, the Super League will open a new chapter for European football, ensuring world-class competition and facilities, and increased financial support for the wider football pyramid.”
However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his players were only made aware of these plans on Sunday, shortly before the team’s Premier League clash against Burnley.
Per The Daily Mail, some members of Solskjaer’s squad were ‘angered’ after they discovered their employer’s central role in the breakaway league via the media.
Insiders, the same report claims, say some players felt Solskjaer was thrown under a bus when he was left to face Sky Sports’ questions about the ESL in his post-match interview following Sunday’s 3-1 win over Burnley.
Woodward reportedly told the squad they were acting in the club’s best interests, but the reception among many of the players was ‘lukewarm at best’.
“Some of the players were seriously unimpressed,” a source explained to The Daily Mail. “Not only that they were left to find out by the media about what had happened but that their manager was left to face the press when the owners had concocted this.
“Woodward attempted to appease them but the response was lukewarm at best. It hasn’t gone down well with many of them.”
And now The Daily Mail’s Mike Keegan is reporting that Maguire confronted Woodward at the meeting over the players not knowing about the plans before playing Burnley.
This snippet of information has gone down well with United fans, who have praised their captain on social media…
Read more: European Super League: Everything you need to know about breakaway league.
(Credit: The Football Terrace)
The Red Devils currently sit second in the Premier League table and are through to this season’s Europa League semi-finals, although there is speculation that Solskjaer’s team could potentially be thrown out of both competitions due to their involvement in the ESL.