‘We burned through cash!’: Man United CEO Richard Arnold tells fans last season was ‘a nightmare’

Manchester United supremo Richard Arnold has acknowledged huge mistakes in how the club has been run during a shocking exchange with supporters.

Arnold admitted United had ‘burned through cash’ with disastrous forays into the transfer market and described the last 12 months as a ‘f****** nightmare’.

The chief executive admitted United’s young players had a ‘torrid time’ after returning from Euro 2020 with their confidence ‘shot’. He also pleaded with United fans to stop the protests that have ruined the mood at Old Trafford.

The candid statements were secretly filmed by fans who talked to Arnold in pub close to his Cheshire home.

United would not directly comment but believe the decision by Arnold to engage is indicative of the club’s desire to be more honest and transparent with supporters.

 The United chief labelled last season as a ‘nightmare’ for the club as they finished sixth

He was appointed to succeed executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward in February and his first major move has been to appoint Erik ten Hag as manager after United finished sixth in the Premier League, 35 points behind champions Manchester City.

In an honest appraisal of United’s recent history, Arnold told the group of supporters: ‘We spent a billion pounds on players, more than anyone in Europe.

‘I’m not thrilled where we are. It doesn’t sit easy with me and I worry how we get this sorted for the future. What’s happened is we have f****** burned through cash.

‘You can’t go to our training ground and say ‘show me where the £1 billion is’ because we haven’t spent money well historically.

‘Last year was a f****** nightmare. There was hate at every game. We’ve blown through an enormous amount of money.’

United fans are worried that they are falling further behind City and Liverpool who have already made big signings this summer.

In a video leaked online, the United CEO tells fans that the club ‘burned through cash’

Arnold (right) took over as United’s chief executive after Ed Woodward’s departure in February 

Ten Hag’s striker target Darwin Nunez has joined Liverpool and negotiations with Barcelona over £70million Holland midfielder Frenkie de Jong are proving complicated even though the club want to sell to raise funds.

Arnold insisted that despite a failure to qualify for the Champions League, a budget is there to strengthen the squad which has lost Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Edinson Cavani, Juan Mata and Nemanja Matic since the end of the season.

‘For this summer, the money the manager and the director of football [John Murtough] wants is there. For the future, investing in a new stadium and a latest-and-greatest training ground we’ve got to do something. We’ve got to get investors in. I need that to do what I want.’