by Sir Jim Ratcliffe will look to drive a series of changes at Manchester United after he was given control of football operations following the purchase of a 25 per cent stake in the club from the Glazer family.
Here Telegraph Sport delves into some of the early challenges faced by the Oldham-born Ineos billionaire and his team at Old Trafford.
Solve the eternal recruitment problem
Sir David Brailsford, the man behind British cycling’s extraordinary success at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and sporting director at Ineos, has been commissioned with an audit of United’s football operations amid an early review of the recruitment department. . Ratcliffe and his closest advisers believe that an incoherent, second-rate and scattered transfer policy over the decade since Sir Alex Ferguson retired has been a significant factor – if not the only problem – behind the team’s persistent problems. .
They have been looking at a number of sporting directors, including former Spurs and Monaco player Paul Mitchell and Crystal Palace’s Dougie Freedman, and could yet try to hire more than one recruitment expert as they try to rectify years of alarming Waste and Thinking confused.
John Murtough, United’s current director of football, hopes to be part of any transition process under Ineos, but it remains to be seen whether his responsibilities will be downgraded and redefined or whether he will be moved. Erik ten Hag has already said publicly that he expects to have a say in United’s transfer policy, given the veto on signings that he has included in his contract. But the club’s decision to allow the manager such influence over transfers (and a largely insular approach to signing players with Eredivisie experience and/or pre-existing relationship with the Dutchman) looks increasingly ill-advised and a repetition in part of some of the failures during the reign of Louis van Gaal. The impact Ineos may have on the January transfer window may be influenced by the speed with which the Premier League ratifies the deal, with delays in recent weeks already resulting in a loss of vital time.
Appoint a new CEO
Richard Arnold left last month ahead of Ineos’ imminent arrival, leaving United in need of a new chief executive. Patrick Stewart, the club’s legal advisor, will fill the role on an interim basis and Arnold will provide transitional support until the end of the month, but it is imperative that United get the right man for the job. Jean-Claude Blanc, the former Juventus CEO who currently holds the same role at Ineos Sport, is firmly in the running and has the experience of running a big club and building a new stadium. Blanc played a key role in the construction of the Italian club’s 40,000-capacity Allianz Stadium, which opened in 2011. The Glazers are expected to have a say in the new man’s identity, but Ratcliffe hopes to have an ally installed in the role. .
Resolving the Sancho confrontation
Ratcliffe could soon face Ten Hag if he tries to force the United manager to bring back Sancho, who has been in exile for more than three months since effectively accusing the Dutchman on social media of lying about the reasons for his absence. against Arsenal on September 3. United’s new minority shareholder must establish whether there is any realistic prospect of a rapprochement, but the club has so far sided with Ten Hag’s stance that Sancho must show genuine remorse and offer a full public and private apology for be reinstated.
At present, moving away from Old Trafford in the January transfer window still appears to be best for all parties, but the deal between Ratcliffe and the Glazers could also face an early test if offers come in for the England winger. What happens if Ratcliffe accepts a deal to get rid of Sancho that the Americans, who still have majority control, don’t consider financially viable? United fans will hope that the lines of communication and agreements between the parties are strong enough that such scenarios do not materialise. Anything else would be a farce.
Juventus and Borussia Dortmund are among the clubs closely monitoring Sancho’s situation. Saudi Arabia could also renew their interest after a late and failed approach in the summer window from Al Ettifaq, managed by former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, although Sancho is believed to prefer to stay in Europe at this stage of his career. .
Get rid of dead wood
Sancho is not the only player facing an uncertain future in January, when Ineos could look to lay down an early marker of their intentions going forward. Anthony Martial is somehow approaching his ninth year as a United player and he can’t move fast enough. There is a buyout clause in Sergio Reguilón’s loan deal and the possibility of the left-back returning to Spurs. Beyond that, Ineos will have to make a decision on centre-back Raphaël Varane, who was sidelined by Ten Hag until the recent injury crisis and is believed to be a player of interest for Saudi Arabian clubs.
Brailsford’s successes in cycling were built around a fierce team ethic, meticulous planning and his “marginal gains” philosophy: the theory that even a one percent improvement in a number of small areas can have a Huge cumulative benefit. “It only takes one bad apple in the group and it can ruin the whole dynamic,” he once said. “Ideally, you don’t want people to be robots and nonconformists to be authentic, but if they are destructive, self-centered, or too disruptive in a team environment, remove them.”
United have talked for years about rooting out bad actors, passengers and shoddy players in their squad, but they have rarely backed up that rhetoric with ruthless sacrifice, instead stockpiling players well past their sell-by date and pays the price, in more ways than one. Will that finally change?
Questioning ten witches
After an encouraging debut campaign, as Ten Hag ended United’s six-year wait for a trophy, he made some important decisions, notably around Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire, and restored some order and discipline after Inheriting a toxic disaster, the wheels have started turning. Go out this season. Injuries have not helped, but many of Ten Hag’s signings have underperformed and there are serious concerns that the Dutchman, who was recruited partly for his coaching skills, has improved so few players, there is no identity of discernible game and the team still needs work. The ethics and discipline and his management of the game is so naive.
All of these problems have been reflected in a series of poor results and dismal performances. When Ineos attended Old Trafford and Carrington for a series of presentations in March, word spread that there was admiration for Ten Hag, but recent months have not reflected well on the manager and Ratcliffe’s arrival is likely to intensify the attention.
Solve the injury epidemic
“Ineos will look at everything, leaving no stone unturned,” said a source, and that will include United’s terrible injury record this season. Murtough said in October that the club had launched an internal investigation to determine why so many players had suffered problems and establish whether there was any pattern that warranted changes to its approach to improve injury prevention in the future.
A relentless schedule and quick recovery from last season have been obvious factors – United are not the only Premier League club facing a host of injury problems. But there have been concerns that Ten Hag’s high-intensity training sessions between matches have not helped at times. Pep Guardiola, Manchester City coach, recently spoke about how relatively little the Premier League and the European champions train to prevent his squad from being decimated by injuries, placing emphasis on recovery. “If we train, we won’t have players for the next game,” he said.
Navigating UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules
UEFA regulations prohibit an individual from having control over more than one club competing in Europe. So Ratcliffe must find a way to convince European football’s governing body that he has no “decisive influence” on decision-making at either United or Nice, the French club he owns, or potentially risk having one of them is expelled from Europe.
Brighton owner Tony Bloom faced a similar situation in the summer when he was forced to reduce his stake in Union Saint-Gilloise so that the Belgian club and their Premier League counterparts could compete in the Europa League this season.
The Glazers are understood to have acknowledged the potential conflict and it is difficult to believe that Ratcliffe, who also owns Swiss Super League side Lausanne-Sport, does not have a plan to address any issues in the future in order to satisfy the requirements of the UEFA.
Nice are currently second in Ligue 1, five points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain, and are currently on course to qualify for the Champions League. Lausanne occupies tenth place in the Swiss top flight.
Making a plan for Old Trafford
In addition to the purchase price, Ratcliffe will provide an additional £245 million in phased investment for infrastructure needs. With the cost of redeveloping and expanding Old Trafford – or building an entirely new stadium on surrounding land – estimated at between £800m and £2bn, £250m will barely scratch the surface when it comes to the needs of a ground the Glazers have been neglected for too long.
The Old Trafford project has been effectively on hold for the last year as United’s “strategic review” dragged on, but fans will – quite rightly – want to know what the plan is for the stadium now that Ratcliffe is on board. It’s been almost 18 months since a survey asking fans for their opinions was sent out as part of a consultation process and there is no more time to waste.
