Jim Ratcliffe’s investment signals fresh start in Manchester United’s recovery plan
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Fans will welcome Jim Ratcliffe's input as they look forward to him living up to his vow to return the club to the “top of world football”.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Jim Ratcliffe becoming a minority shareholder in Manchester United
While the deal will not give supporters their desired clean break from the unpopular Glazer family, it signals a fresh start for the club.
United shares jumped about 4 per cent on Dec 26 after months of uncertainty over the deal.
The deal is far from the multi-billion dollar takeover initially expected, but fans will welcome Ratcliffe’s input as they look forward to him living up to his vow to return the club to the “top of world football”.
The British billionaire and owner of petrochemicals giant Ineos, who also owns French Ligue 1 side Nice and tried to buy Chelsea in 2022, took a 25 per cent stake for about US$1.3 billion (S$1.72 billion), United said on Dec 23, following a bidding process that lasted more than 12 months.
The 71-year-old is also investing US$300 million to upgrade the club’s ageing infrastructure that invariably has visiting fans, often soaked by water pouring through the holes in the roof, chanting “Old Trafford is falling down”.
His investment means he has been given the responsibility of running the sporting side of the business.
That is welcome news for a club who stumbled to their worst start to a season since 1962 and have not won a league title since Alex Ferguson retired as manager in 2013.
Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and Ratcliffe made offers in the region of £5 billion (S$8.4 billion) for a complete takeover, but that fell short of the Glazer family’s valuation.
Sheikh Jassim withdrew his bid to buy 100 per cent of the club in October, while Ratcliffe continued to pursue a minority shareholding.
The Glazers will remain in control, but how the dynamics between them and Ratcliffe will unfold is one of the great unanswered questions of the new arrangement.
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville believes staff will feel like they are in limbo, saying on his Sky Sports podcast: “We know that the CEO has already left and gone early and you have heard all the reports coming out about what Jim Ratcliffe and Dave Brailsford are going to do.
“You can imagine how the atmosphere must be in there waiting for what will be the inevitable for probably 60 or 70 per cent of the staff... They must all feel, not undermined, they must all feel like ‘let me get out of here quick’.
“Because the reality of it is they will probably have to at some point over the next few months anyway, because there is no doubt a new football director or sporting leader coming in, which is what Jim Ratcliffe is.
“He’s going to make sweeping changes, because it has been 10 years of failure. He’s going to make lots and lots of changes.”
The Premier League’s all-time top scorer Alan Shearer, however, believes changes to the Old Trafford hierarchy are unlikely to trickle down to the players.
He wrote in his column for The Athletic: “I’m not sure players will be overly exercised about the departure of Richard Arnold as chief executive and I don’t think they would be horrified by the prospect of Dave Brailsford, a cycling and performance coach, taking on a prominent role under Ratcliffe.
“Players are much more open-minded now about new ideas and high performance – football is less of a closed shop and plenty is transferable from other sports and businesses.
“How much Ratcliffe can actually do with his 25 per cent stake is difficult to gauge, though. You have to assume it will be an improvement from the suspended animation Manchester United have found themselves in.
“There will be results from an audit, a plan and a set of objectives will be set out... Ultimately, players want to run onto the pitch with their minds clear and from the outside looking in, fogginess has been ingrained.”
But former Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher believes that if United fans want to see their team play well, they have to watch matches from their more successful past.
He said on the Gary Neville Podcast: “He (Ratcliffe) has got to get Manchester United back to being the team everybody wants to watch and is excited by...
“If you want to watch Manchester United play well now, you have got to go to UKTV Gold. You watch them against Manchester City, you watch them against Liverpool, and they are hanging on for dear life.” REUTERS, AFP
