Man Utd takeover: Sir Jim Ratcliffe start date revealed, with Richard Arnold to be grilled over horrific £1.4bn spending
Nice owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe pictured at home game vs PSG
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is aiming to complete his minority purchase of Manchester United over the weekend and wants to start his new role at the club on Monday, according to a report.
For several months, Ratcliffe was in a takeover race with Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim, which followed the Glazer family putting Man Utd up for sale. Initially, both Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim were aiming to buy the club in its entirety.
However, the two prospective buyers soon discovered how hard it would be to agree a deal with the Glazers. Ratcliffe swiftly turned his attention to a minority stake worth 25 per cent, while Sheikh Jassim launched a final bid worth £5billion.
When that huge offer was rejected, Sheikh Jassim walked away from the negotiations. And this put Ratcliffe in pole position to become a partial owner of Man Utd, a club he claims to have supported since childhood.
Ratcliffe, who already owns French side Nice through his company INEOS, had been expected to join the Man Utd ownership team weeks ago. However, there has been a delay in the deal reaching completion.
According to an update from The Sun, Ratcliffe is hopeful his partial takeover will be finalised in the coming days. The British billionaire wants to start work at Old Trafford as early as Monday, as he looks to take Man Utd back to their former glory.
INEOS’ director of sports, Sir Dave Brailsford, will help Ratcliffe improve the decision-making at Man Utd, in order to put them on the path to success.
As per a separate report from The Sun, Ratcliffe and his team will ‘demand answers’ on how the Red Devils have blown almost £1.4bn on signings since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson, without having much success in terms of major trophies.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants explanation for Man Utd spending
The likes of CEO Richard Arnold, football director John Murtough and director of football operations David Harrison will all be grilled on how they have wasted Man Utd’s money in the transfer market. While the likes of Arnold and Murtough are not to blame for all of that £1.4bn expenditure, they have certainly played their part.
Arnold has allowed manager Erik ten Hag to sign some of his favourite players, including Antony, Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro and Mason Mount.
Martinez and Casemiro have both had a positive impact, though the latter is struggling with poor form this season. Antony has been labelled as the club’s ‘worst purchase ever’ as he continuously underperforms but somehow still gets picked, while Mount often has to sit on the bench even though Ten Hag heaped praise on him when he was signed from Chelsea.
It is not just the transfer process that Ratcliffe and Brailsford must sort out. They also need to debate whether Ten Hag is the right person to take Man Utd forward and challenge the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal.
Ratcliffe is unlikely to make sweeping changes and axe Ten Hag straight away, especially as Joel Glazer will remain on Man Utd’s football decision-making committee. However, Ratcliffe could push for the Dutchman to be sacked if he does not manage to improve Man Utd’s fortunes for the rest of the campaign.
