Sir Jim Ratcliffe will look to make a number of changes at Manchester United after taking control of its football operations following the purchase of a 25 percent stake in the club from the Glazer family.
Here, Telegraph Sport delves into some of the early challenges facing the Oldham-born Ineos billionaire and his team at Old Trafford.
Solving the eternal recruitment problem
Sir David Brailsford, the man behind British Cycling’s extraordinary success at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and sporting director of Ineos, has been tasked with an audit of United’s football operations amid an expected overhaul of its recruitment department. Ratcliffe and his closest advisers believe that a inconsistent, second-rate transfer policy over the decade since Sir Alex Ferguson retired has been a major factor – if not the only problem – behind the team’s continued struggles.
They have looked at a number of sporting directors, including Paul Mitchell, formerly of Spurs and Monaco, and Dougie Freedman of Crystal Palace, and could yet look to bring in more than one recruitment expert in their bid to rectify years of alarming problems. waste and confused thinking.
John Murtough, United’s current director of football, expects to be part of any transition process under Ineos, but whether his responsibilities are downgraded and redefined, or whether he is moved remains to be seen. Erik ten Hag has already said publicly that he still expects to have a say in United’s transfer policy, given the veto on the signatures he has written in his contract. But the club’s decision to give the manager so much control over transfers – and a largely insular approach to signing players with an Eredivisie background and/or pre-existing relationship with the Dutchman – appears increasingly misguided and a repetition of some of the shortcomings during the transfer period. The reign of Louis van Gaal. How much impact Ineos can make in the January transfer window could be influenced by the speed at which the Premier League seals the deal, as delays in recent weeks have already lost crucial time.
Appointment of a new CEO
Richard Arnold left last month ahead of the impending arrival of Ineos, leaving United in need of a new CEO. Patrick Stewart, the club’s legal adviser, will fill the role on an interim basis, with Arnold providing transitional support until the end of the month, but it is imperative that United find the right man for the job. Jean-Claude Blanc, the former CEO of Juventus who currently holds the same role at Ineos Sport, is firmly in the running and has the experience of running a major club and delivering a new stadium. Blanc played a key role in the construction of the 40,000-capacity Allianz Stadium, which opened in 2011. The Glazers are expected to have a say in the identity of the new man, but Ratcliffe hopes an ally will be installed in the role.
Sorting out the Sancho deadlock
Ratcliffe could put himself on an early collision course with Ten Hag if he tries to force the United manager to take 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 determine whether there is a realistic chance of a rapprochement, but the club has so far sided with Ten Hag’s position that Sancho must show genuine remorse and make a full public and private apology to be reinstated.
At this point, a move away from Old Trafford in the January transfer window still appears to be in the best interests of all parties, but the deal between Ratcliffe and the Glazers could also be tested early on if offers arrive for the English winger. What if Ratcliffe makes a deal to fire Sancho that the Americans – who still control the majority – deem financially unfeasible? United fans will hope that the lines of communication and agreements between the parties are robust enough to prevent such scenarios from becoming a reality. Anything less would be a farce.
Juventus and Borussia Dortmund are among the clubs keeping a close eye on Sancho’s situation. Saudi Arabia could also renew their interest after a late, failed approach in the summer window by Al Ettifaq, who are managed by former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, although it is thought Sancho would prefer to remain in Europe at this stage of his career.
Getting rid of the dead wood
Sancho is not the only player facing an uncertain future in January, when Ineos could give the first indication of his intentions for the future. Anthony Martial is somehow approaching his ninth year as a United player and can’t move on quickly enough. There is a release clause in Sergio Reguilón’s loan deal and there is a chance the left-back could return to Spurs. In addition, Ineos will have to make a decision on central defender Raphaël Varane, who was sidelined at Ten Hag until the recent injury crisis and is considered a player of interest to clubs in Saudi Arabia.
Brailsford’s successes in cycling were based on a fierce team ethic, meticulous planning and his ‘marginal gain’ philosophy – the theory that even a one percent improvement in many small areas can have a huge cumulative advantage. “All it takes is 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 you want misfits to be their authentic selves, but if they are destructive, self-centered, or too harmful in a team environment, take them out.”
United have been talking about weeding out the miscreants, passengers and undersized players in their squad for years, but have rarely backed up that rhetoric with a ruthless cull, instead stockpiling players well past their expiration date and paying the price, at more ways than just one. Will that finally change?
Quizzes Ten Hag
After an encouraging debut season, as Ten Hag ended United’s six-year wait for a trophy, made some big decisions, not least around Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire, and restored some order and discipline after suffering a toxic mess, the wheels have begun to change. finish 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 qualities – has improved so few players, that there is no discernible playing identity and that the team is still always missing work. ethics and discipline and their game management is so naive.
All 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, there was much talk of admiration for Ten Hag, but the past few months have not reflected well on the manager and Ratcliffe’s arrival is likely to intensify the spotlight.
Solving the injury epidemic
“Ineos will look at everything – no stone will be left unturned,” said a source, and that includes United’s poor injury record this season. Murtough said in October that the club had begun an internal investigation to determine why so many players have had problems and to determine whether patterns exist that warrant changes in their approach to improve injury prevention in the future.
A fearless schedule and the quick turnaround from last season have been obvious factors; United aren’t the only Premier League club dealing with a plethora of injury problems. But there are concerns that Ten Hag’s intensive training between matches has sometimes not helped. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola recently spoke about how little the Premier League and European champions train relatively to avoid his squad being decimated by injuries, with an emphasis on recovery. “When we train, we don’t have players for the next match,” he said.
Navigate UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules
UEFA regulations prohibit an individual from controlling 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 he may risk one of them are excluded from Europe.
Brighton owner Tony Bloom faced a similar situation in the summer when he was forced to reduce his ownership stake in Union Saint-Gilloise so that the Belgian club and their Premier League counterparts could both compete in Europe this season League.
It is believed the Glazers have recognized the potential conflict and it is hard to believe that Ratcliffe – who also owns Swiss Super League club Lausanne-Sport – has no plan to address any issues later to meet the demands of to comply with 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 is 10th in the Swiss top flight.
Developing a plan for Old Trafford
In addition to the purchase price, Ratcliffe is providing a further £245 million in staggered investments for infrastructure requirements. With the cost of redeveloping and expanding Old Trafford – or building an entirely new stadium on surrounding land – estimated at anything between £800 million and £2 billion, a quarter of a billion will barely scratch the surface when it comes to the needs of a site that has been neglected for far too long by the Glazers.
The Old Trafford project has been effectively at a standstill for the past year as United’s ‘strategic review’ dragged on, but fans will – rightly – want to know what the plan is for the future of the stadium now that Ratcliffe is on board. It’s been almost 18 months since a consultation process sent out a survey asking supporters for their views, and there’s no more time to waste.