Victor Lindelof has declared Manchester United’s players cannot think about a possible takeover as they must focus all their energy this week on beating Barcelona and then lifting the Carabao Cup.
Erik ten Hag’s side are still fighting on four fronts, with Sunday’s 3-0 win against Leicester keeping hopes of a Premier League title push alive.
United host Barcelona in the return leg of their Europa League knockout play-off on Thursday with the tie balanced at 2-2, before facing Newcastle in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
The relentlessness and importance of the schedule is not lost on the team, which is why Lindelof says the players cannot be distracted by takeover talk.
‘I haven’t given that [takeover] a thought, you know, especially now with the schedule,’ the centre-back said. ‘We can’t think about that. We just have to think about the games and prepare the best we can do.
‘Whatever happens happens, but we’re just focusing on our performances right now.’
Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos company publicly confirmed they submitted bids to buy the club from the Glazer family before Friday’s soft deadline.
United supporters, as always, chanted against the current owners on Sunday, when Ten Hag’s side rode their luck against Leicester before Jadon Sancho added to Marcus Rashford’s brace.
Rashford has scored 24 goals in all competitions, breaking his single-season record for the club before February is out.
‘Of course I’ve seen what type of player he is over the years but I think right now he does everything right,’ Lindelof said of Rashford.
‘He’s training great, doing his recovery right and, yeah, just shows what type of player he is. His form has been unbelievable.’
■ Manchester United fans are right to be concerned their club could become part of a wider programme of Qatari sports-washing, Amnesty International has said. Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the chair of Qatar Islamic Bank, has confirmed a bid to buy 100 per cent of the club.
‘The glamour of football is used to refashion the country’s image regardless of serious and systematic human rights abuses,’ said Amnesty’s Peter Frankental.
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