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Rob Dawson says the pressure on Erik ten Hag’s task will increase when Jim Ratcliffe gets his Manchester United stake. (1:16)
Manchester United enthusiasts were excited about a fresh start when the Glazer family announced a year ago that they were willing to sell the club. Instead, they will get Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s minority investment, which is expected to be officially announced next year. week.
The British billionaire, who is chief executive of chemical company INEOS, will spend around £1. 3 billion to get his foot in the door with a 25% stake, the first ownership reshuffle since the Glazers were bought in 2005.
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Most of his followers are torn between sadness and frustration that the American family (owners who have been hugely unpopular for nearly two decades) are staying where they are, and they hope that this can usher in a new era. The Glazers will remain majority shareholders, but Ratcliffe and INEOS, who enjoy football at OGC Nice in France and FC Lausanne-Sport in Switzerland, are expected to have influence on the sporting side of the business.
According to those close to him, Ratcliffe believes that United, who have been without a name in the Premier League for 10 years and without winning the Champions League for 15 years, have a sleeping giant, and he arrives at Old Trafford with the intention of waking him up. . But what will he have to face once his participation is confirmed?Will we be able to know anything about his past paintings in Nice?
It is evident to almost everyone that after 18 years of Glazer ownership, United constantly desire new management. Ratcliffe proposes this, but since the Glazers are still majority owners, the big question remains: what kind of influence will it have?Old has earned a reputation as a meticulous planner and a dominant figure on boardrooms, but he may have to perform differently at Old Trafford given that he will only own 25 per cent.
The two main issues on his to-do list are the club’s outdated infrastructure (basically Old Trafford itself and the team’s educational facilities at Carrington) and the overhaul in the way players are transferred.
Repairing the stadium and educational floor is simple, but it will take time and money. Early recommendations recommend that Ratcliffe is willing to invest around £250 million beyond the £1. 3 billion to buy his stake, but this has raised some concerns. United have already looked at Old Trafford innovations and have been told that maximum viable plans would charge between £800 million and £2 billion depending on the plan.
Ratcliffe’s initial £250m is a lot of money, but only a third of the minimum amount United believe they need. He has still ruled out the structure of a new stadium and would like to increase Old Trafford’s capacity from 76,000 to 90,000.
The timing of recruitment is more complicated.
United bosses walked out of a meeting with Ratcliffe and his team in March thinking they had inspired the British billionaire, but those close to him say he has a poor view of how the club has operated in the transfer market over the past decade. He believes money is the biggest correlation to good luck in football, and finds it hard to perceive how United, one of the world’s biggest profit turbines, can be so bad on the pitch. According to sources, he will be on a project to solve the problem.
Sources close to Ratcliffe were quick to distance themselves from Richard Arnold’s decision to step down as United chief executive, but adjustments will be made to the layout and key personnel. Current director of football John Murtough, in charge since 2021, has allowed Ten Hag to recruit several of his and Dutch football’s former players, but is expected to leave as part of the reorganisation.
Sir Dave Brailsford, who helped reshape British Olympic cycling, has had Ratcliffe’s sports guru since he took over as INEOS’ sporting director in 2021, and he is expected to be involved. Brailsford believes in a philosophy of “marginal gains,” but he has had little sporting experience. Good luck outside of cycling, and it remains to be seen how his influence will combine with that of coach Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag has been given a lot of strength since his appointment in 2022 and, according to sources, he probably won’t give it up easily. The Dutch coach has been given several promises after arriving from Ajax, adding that he will have a veto over all movement decisions, and expects them to be kept, with Glazers or Ratcliffe taking the lead.
There is an argument that part of United’s recruitment challenge over the last 10 years is that they have signed players for the outgoing manager, as part of a long-term plan. But Ten Hag is stubborn and stubborn: Ratcliffe and Brailsford will struggle to take away the influence they enjoyed in their first 18 months.
Julien Laurens remembers Jim Ratcliffe’s good and bad moments in Nice since he took over in 2019.
Ratcliffe is a Ten Hag fan and, despite a poor start to the season, believes they have credits in the bank after winning the Carabao Cup and qualifying for the Champions League in their first year. But much will depend on his ability to expand a harmonious and mutually appropriate relationship.
But again, it all comes down to the same question: what kind of influence will Ratcliffe get with his 25% stake?He’s not someone who remains a silent member, but he probably doesn’t own enough shares in the club to do everything his own way. . His deal with the Glazers and his appointment with Ten Hag will be key. — Rob Dawson
Of the entire INEOS football galaxy, Nice is clearly the most attractive task for Ratcliffe to examine, given his prestige in one of Europe’s smartest leagues, to see what kind of (co)owner he is. He bought the Ligue 1 club in the summer of 2019 for €100 million and had big ambitions. “In the next 3 years we will compete with Paris Saint-Germain for the Ligue 1 title,” he said after his inauguration.
That didn’t happen; The club finished sixth, ninth, fifth and ninth in the standings over the four seasons.
INEOS’ drive to excel there from the start, and this was reflected in its investment point. Under Ratcliffe, Nice benefited from €13. 5 million worth of innovations and modernisations on its educational floor and spent more than €250 million on player recruitment.
There have been some expensive signings, such as forwards Terem Moffi, for €25 million last January from Lorient, and Kasper Dolberg, who left Ajax for €20. 5 million in the summer of 2019, but all the players signed in the last four, and after a year and a half, only a few have achieved it. It is true that goalkeeper Marcin Bulka, defenders Jean-Clair Todibo, midfielders Hicham Boudaoui, Kephren Thuram, Hicham Boudaoui, Youssouf Ndayishimiye and Jérémie Boga and forwards Gaëtan Laborde and Amine Gouiri have had success. a positive impact, but a lot for the rest.
There have been some interesting options since Ratcliffe took office. Although he lives only an hour away from Monaco, he hasn’t had any concrete influence on day-to-day life and doesn’t attend many games each season either. He promptly appointed his brother Bob as CEO, only to fire him after two years. He let Sir Dave Brailsford step in and run things for him while he conducted an audit of the club, which was also a mistake. Brailsford hired Iain Moody as unofficial sporting director, leading to some of the worst signings of Ratcliffe’s tenure.
The trio consisted of defenders Mads Sorensen, Mattia Viti and Joe Bryan; midfielder Ross Barkley and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel in Ligue 1. All had played in other major European leagues, but struggled to acclimatise to the speed of the league and the nature of Nice’s project.
Ratcliffe is afraid to take on a proper overhaul of a team, which he would possibly have to do in Manchester. During his four seasons, 50 players joined Nice and 40 left, with a net expenditure of -130 million euros. These types of adjustments can also be negative: in September 2022, the club’s captain, Dante, even complained about the constant and excessive adjustments in the squads.
“Do you know how many players made it to the end of the trade window last summer?” asked Dante. Six left, six arrived. It’s tricky in those conditions. Just don’t make the same mistakes. If anyone wants my opinion, the faster we get organized, the better. If we want to aim higher, we want to anticipate things and put the values of the organization into effect. . . There is a lack of consistency somewhere. I’m sorry to say that. “
Rob Dawson explains what Jim Ratcliffe will face if he hopes to take a majority stake in Manchester United.
Ratcliffe has also shown little hesitation when it comes to making changes to the lineup, although his track record there is also mixed. Patrick Vieira, who was already the club’s technical director at the time of the INEOS acquisition, spent 18 months with Ratcliffe; Lucien Favre, who led Nice to third place in 2017, controlled for just six months before being sacked in his second spell at the club. Adrian Ursea and Didier Digard, who served on an interim basis for six months, were not signed, while Christophe Galtier, who led Lille to a notable name in Ligue 1 in 2016, left after one season.
Francesco Farioli has been in charge since the summer and is doing very well – Nice are second in the table – but that says a lot about the fact that Ratcliffe’s club already have their sixth manager in 4 years. Although everyone admits that although he largely excelled as a boss, these kinds of changes are concerning. Among all the billionaire’s options, Galtier is the only “right” choice, as he allowed Nice to finish fifth and triumph in the Coupe de France final. In the meantime, it is still too early to judge Farioli or the last sporting director, Florian Ghislofi, who has been in office for a year.
Based on the moves in Nice, it is clear that Sir Jim Ratcliffe will not be too involved, that his brother Bob is not expected to play a role at United and that Brailsford will have a major role in football strategy. or worse. It’s also evident that Ratcliffe will spend money looking to make things better, even if the progress is messy and non-linear. United enthusiasts will hope he and his close allies have learned from mistakes beyond. –Julien Laurens