MANCHESTER UNITED AIM TO STRIKE DISNEY DEAL INSPIRED BY 'WELCOME TO WREXHAM' SUCCESS

As Sir Jim Ratcliffe's revolution at Old Trafford takes shape, Manchester United are now in talks with Disney over a 'multi-million-dollar' deal following Wrexham's docuseries success.

The British billionaire has been clear in his ambitions to stop the rot at the 20-time Premier League champions as he looks to usher in a new era of success following a decade of decline. While the INEOS tycoon's remit centres around sporting operations, it appears that club chiefs are now eager to build on the success rival clubs have had in partnering with entertainment platforms in recent times.

According to the Athletic, the Red Devils are engaged in 'confidential' talks with Disney over an agreement, with a retrospective production potentially being mooted. As per their report, their sources have indicted that the streaming service is interested in covering the glory years of Sir Alex Ferguson's 26-year reign as the premise for a new series.

Among the aspects of the discussions purportedly being thrashed out is the possibility for interviews with the legendary manager himself as well as club icons such as Bryan Robson and Peter Schmeichel. The report also posits that the three-time European champions would maintain 'editorial' control over any hypothetical production.

With the continent's top clubs looking to keep their revenue streams topped up amid Financial Fair Play regulations, any agreement would be another string to United's bow in that sense. However, a finalised deal is yet to be agreed between both parties, with any fee yet to be agreed.

Either way, such a project would represent a first major move for United into partnership with one of the lucrative streaming service giants. While Amazon Prime Video's recent documentary about the club's triumphant Treble winning campaign in 1999 involved club legends such as David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, United were not involved in any official capacity.

As for Disney+, the popularity of the ' Welcome To Wrexham ' series will have their company chiefs hoping for similar success if they are to enter into a deal with the Red Devils. Any deal would also follow on from rival clubs such as Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City taking part in Amazon's 'All or Nothing'.

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Given the retrospective nature of the documentary, comparisons will also be drawn to Netflix's ' Beckham ' series, which chronicled the former England captain's time at Old Trafford and beyond. Meanwhile, other docuseries such as Netflix's 'The Last Dance' - detailing the great Chicago Bulls team of the 1990s starring Michael Jordan - and Apple TV's 'The Dynasty: New England Patriots' - exploring the great NFL dynasty of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady - have proved major hits.

As for transforming matters on the pitch through the transformation of operations at Old Trafford off the field, new football operations chief Ratcliffe confirmed to BBC Sport : "It's a long journey. The fans are impatient and I have some sympathy with that. It’s a journey and people, whether they like it or not, have to be a bit patient."

"We’ve got these new guys to come into the team, capable people, but they’re all on gardening leave. So it takes you six months, a year, 18 months before they can join. It’s a real issue in football, before adding: "It’s not a light switch. You can’t just turn it around like that it takes a bit of time."

2024-04-23T13:46:16Z dg43tfdfdgfd