Man United news: Finance guru salutes Harry Maguire amid ongoing feud with top executives
Man United skipper Harry Maguire is “smart” to advocate on behalf of players over the use of their image rights.
That is the view of finance guru Doctor Dan Plumley, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the use of players’ rights for non-fungible tokens.
The Premier League is considering creating a range of digital collectables as part of a £400million-plus NFT deal, per the Daily Mail on 18 February.
But The Athletic reported last Thursday (24 February) that there has been pushback from players concerned over the use of their image rights.
It is understood that Maguire is particularly involved in protecting player rights amid “jostling” with top executives over NFT technology.
Plumley saluted the 28-year-old centre-back for his stance.
“From a player’s point of view, it’s a smart thing to be advocating for,” the Sheffield Hallam University expert told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“Player image rights are very lucrative nowadays. The game has changed in that regard.
“A lot of the time, contract negotiations are coming down to things around image rights. It’s not the bread and butter of what negotiations used to be.
“So I totally understand players wanting to protect their image rights and income in a career that’s very short. Players are aware of this.
“It’s another issue that is going to keep cropping up because there are no regulations in place for it.”
Four NFT firms are understood to be under consideration by the Premier League for a contract to produce trading-card-style collectables.
United are next in action against Man City on Sunday (6 March).
In other news, pundit fears Ronaldo’s “big” problem is “killing” Man United.