Sir Alex Ferguson 'to skip Brentford game' after £2m Man Utd contract torn up by INEOS

Sir Alex Ferguson will not be at Manchester United’s home match against Brentford this afternoon (Saturday) after having his £2million-a-year contract ended by INEOS.

United’s new part-owners have decided to cut Ferguson from the payroll at the end of this season as part of a club-wide effort to save money. The 82-year-old had been serving as a global ambassador to the Red Devils since retiring as a legend in 2013.

And though Ferguson is said to remain on friendly terms with the club and INEOS chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe, The Daily Mail claim that he will not be in attendance to watch United meet Brentford in their first match since his ambassadorial axing due to a ‘prior engagement’.

Ferguson is still welcome at Old Trafford, where he is often seen sitting in the stand which bears his name, and where he will remain a non-executive director. Though he is believed to have been banned from entering the dressing room, along with other members of the football board.

United legend Eric Cantona was fuming with INEOS’ decision to bring Ferguson into their cost-cutting efforts. “[He] should be able to do anything he wants at the club until the day he dies,” the Frenchman wrote on social media.

“Such a lack of respect. It’s totally scandalous. Sir Alex Ferguson will be my boss forever! And I throw them all in a big bag of s***!”

In skipping Saturday’s showdown with the Bees, Ferguson is missing a vital game for under-fire manager Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman was on the brink of the sack going into the international break, but club chiefs have opted to give him more time in the hotseat.

Ten Hag led United to an eighth-place finish last season – their worst result in the Premier League era. And their struggles show just how far they have fallen since Ferguson’s 27 years at the helm, which yielded 13 league titles.

Brentford are three places above United in the table, and a defeat would be particularly devastating for Ten Hag given that Bees manager Thomas Frank is believed to be one of the main candidates in the frame to take his job if INEOS opt to make a change.

“Who knows what will happen in the future,” said Frank during the international break. “Maybe I will stay here for many years. I’m open, maybe something happens. How many coaches have been at the same club more than six years? Very few.”