Jim Ratcliffe’s alarming revelations about the state of Manchester United

£1.3 billion (around €1.5 billion) for 27.7% of Manchester United. This is the agreement recently concluded by INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the new co-owner of the Red Devils. The end of a long saga, which began in November 2022 when the Glazer family announced that they were considering a total or partial sale of the club. Now at the head of the Manchester team, the British businessman was quick to display his ambitions and the situation is clear: to restore the last 8th of the Premier League to its former splendor. A project that promises to be colossal, however…

There are many problems in Manchester…

Invited to react to the current regulation of football and more generally the evolution of this sport, the man who amassed a fortune of 15.2 billion dollars thanks to his chemical company INEOS also took advantage of this interview granted to Bloomberg to draw up an initial assessment of the situation on the Red Devils’ side. “There is room for improvement everywhere we look here and we will improve everything”first conceded the person concerned, aware of the immense challenge that lay ahead of him. Since his arrival, Jim Ratcliffe has not been idle. In addition to certain internal reviews, the boss of the Ineos Grenadier cycling team, the Mercedes F1 team at 33%, Team Ineos UK and OGC Nice has also ruled on the question of the coach.

Long in the hot seat, Erik ten Hag was thus kept despite discussions initiated with a certain Thomas Tuchel. A point on which the man, now aged 71, notably returned. “The manager is not the central problem at Manchester United. It’s a sports club. It has to be competitive, it has to be a certain degree of intensity, but with a positive side because you’re dealing with players who are relatively young. There hasn’t been that type of environment historically.”Determined to establish a healthy and sustainable project, Jim Ratcliffe also returned to the club’s failing recruitment policy in recent years. Enough to explain the delay taken by the Red Devils in the face of competition.

Jim Ratcliffe wants to take inspiration from Real!

As a reminder, Manchester United notably recruited Paul Pogba, Antony, Jadon Sancho, Harry Maguire and Romelu Lukaku for a total of 402.5 million pounds sterling (around €480 million). All without making the slightest profit. “Manchester United do not have any players valued at 100 million euros or more”Ratcliffe further noted, adding that a superstar “Won’t solve the problem at Manchester United”. So how can we get out of this slump? For the new architect of the Red Devils, this will above all involve time and decisions taken as part of a long-term project, like Real Madrid, who recently won the Champions League for the 15th time in their history.

“We want to be where Real Madrid are today but it will take time. We are a bit handicapped. It will take two or three summer windows to get to a better place. I am not sure we will solve all the problems in the first transfer window. The net spend since Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill left is £1.1 billion. Real Madrid is £200 million and today they have six or seven players valued at over £100 million. United have none. And they have done the new Bernabeu…”conceded, in this sense, the graduate of London Business School, ready to sell OGC Nice to comply with UEFA’s timeshare rules. Healing the wounds, showing patience and laying solid foundations… this is Jim Ratcliffe’s program before hoping to return to the summits of European football. Manchester supporters know what to expect…