'We're doing it to win' - Man United legends send stark warning after finalising Salford City deal

Manchester United legends David Beckham and Gary Neville have completed their takeover of League Two side Salford City.

The club confirmed on their official website that the former United duo have assumed leading roles in a restructured ownership group at Salford.

The deal will also see Beckham and Neville’s fellow Class of ’92 teammates and co-owners step back from the lower league side.

The ex-United stars held a combined 60% stake in Salford – a consortium that included Paul Scholes, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, and Ryan Giggs.

However, Beckham and Neville have struck a deal that makes them the face of the club and have pledged to invest between £11-15 million.

The goal is to secure promotion to the Championship within five years.

The news comes after Salford narrowly missed out on a League Two play-off spot. They finished eighth, just one point off seventh-placed Chesterfield.

After their gut-wrenching finale to the 2024/25 season, this latest development should lighten the mood within the Salford camp.

There has already been some major tweaks to the club’s ownership structure.

Butt has stepped away entirely, but Scholes will stick around to advise on recruitment while Giggs is in the football strategy department.

This reshuffle comes a year after Singaporean businessman Peter Lim, who bankrolled Salford’s meteoric rise through non-league football, also exited the club.

The new ownership group includes Declan Kelly, founder of United States advisory firm Consello, and Lord Mervyn Davies, chair of the Lawn Tennis Association and a former Labour government minister.

Davies has reportedly mentored Neville for the past seven years and will now serve as co-chair of the club alongside Kelly.

Since Lim left the club, Davies and Kelly have been actively searching for new investors, but one that wouldn’t cost them their controlling stake.

They were concerned about losing influence on key issues like ticket pricing and club culture, so they were cautious about their next move.

Rather than going down that route, they distributed shares among a group of investors, each holding 5-10%, which allows for decisions to be made collectively.

After completing the takeover, Beckham, who wanted a role at Man United during the 2023 takeover saga, sent a stark warning to the rest of the pack.

He acknowledged that he and his cohorts “care about the club” but also made it clear they’re “doing it to win”. Salford will need significant investment to get over the line next season.

It’ll be interesting to see if the United legends can steer the club to success after a gut-wrenching campaign.

Article written by onyekachiuwanabi .