Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has given his verdict on key issues around the club and his leadership of it in a series of wide-ranging interviews. Here’s what we’ve learnt…
Man Utd would have run out of money at Christmas without cuts and changes
“Manchester United would have run out of cash by the end of this year – by the end of 2025 – after having me put $300m (£232.72m) in and if we buy no new players in the summer,” said Ratcliffe to the BBC in a frank description of the club’s financial state.
“We are in the process of change and it’s an uncomfortable period and disruptive and I do feel sympathy with the fans.
“The simple answer is the club runs out of money at Christmas if we don’t do those things.”
Some Man Utd players are ‘not good enough’ and some ‘probably overpaid’
On the quality of players recruited at Man Utd in years gone by, Ratcliffe told the BBC: “Some are not good enough and some probably are overpaid, but for us to mould the squad that we are fully responsible for and accountable for will take time.”
…but Sir Jim is a big fan of Amorim
“I think Ruben has done an excellent job,” Ratcliffe told Sky Sports’ Gary Neville. “I really like Ruben.
“I think in the circumstances… I mean he arrived mid-season, he didn’t have time to train his players in the way in which he wants to play, he inherited a squad which he’s had no influence on, and the squad isn’t necessarily designed for the way in which he plays football, and English isn’t his natural language, and he’s never played in the Premier League before, and he’s managing the biggest club in the world, and it’s a tough place, and he’s a young guy.
“If you take all of that into consideration, I think he’s done a remarkably good job.”
Speaking to the BBC Ratcliffe said on Amorim: “I think Ruben is an outstanding young manager. I really do. He’s an excellent manager and I think he will be there for a long time.”
He regrets not sacking Ten Hag last summer
“It was too early for us to make a big decision in reality,” said Ratcliffe when explaining the decision-making of his recently-assembled leadership team in the summer over Erik ten Hag’s future. The head coach was ultimately handed a contract extension – and then sacked nine games into this campaign.
“It was quite difficult to extract Erik’s performance from the structure around him. Was the erratic performance a function of Erik, or was it a function of the organisation? And we couldn’t really get to the bottom of answering that question with certainty, I suppose, so we gave Erik the benefit of the doubt.”
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Sky Sports News’ senior reporter Rob Dorsett provides further details behind Manchester United’s latest financial results and why there is further bad news for INEOS
Asked by Neville if he regrets that now, Ratcliffe said: “Yeah, it was the wrong decision. We made the wrong decision. It was an error. So yeah, I suppose in that sense I regret it.”
He also told the BBC that sporting director Dan Ashworth’s tenure was ended after just five months because the “chemistry” was not right.
Ten Hag involved in transfers – ‘which is why there were Dutch players’
Ratcliffe says Man Utd’s leadership were undecided as to whether to include Ten Hag in last summer’s transfer activity amid uncertainty over his future in the role – but in the end they did, “which is why there were one or two Dutch players” signed.
“We had the problem with the coach, is it a yes or a no? So are we involving the coach or not involving the coach? We did.
“He was involved in the discussion, so he influenced… I mean, a decision on a new player or a purchase isn’t a decision of one person normally, is it? It’s a group of people who influence that decision one way or another.
“So yeah, he did have a voice, which is why there were one or two Dutch players.”
Man Utd 14th in Premier League – but first year has ‘gone as we anticipated’
“In a funny sort of way, it’s gone as we anticipated,” Ratcliffe told Neville. “We didn’t think the first year would be easy as we had difficult things to do.
“Where we are, I know is a difficult place and people are not very happy about it at the moment, which is why I’m quite unpopular.
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Jamie Carragher and Russell Martin take a look at Ruben Amorim’s time at Manchester United so far
“I believe what we’re doing is the right thing and has to be done to get United back to where United should be, which is winning silverware and trophies.
“If you don’t like where United have been for the last 12 seasons, since Sir Alex [Ferguson] retired, then you have to accept there has to be a period of change, and change is uncomfortable and unpleasant at times.”
The aim: Most profitable club in the world, most iconic stadium, and winning silverware
“The club’s going to finish up in a very, very different place in three years’ time to where it has been in the past, in my view,” Ratcliffe told the BBC.
“I think it will become the most profitable club in the world. I think we may well finish up with the most iconic football stadium in the world, and I think we will finish up winning silverware again.”
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Following news of up to 200 more redundancies and getting rid of free staff lunches, take a look at all the cost cuts Manchester United have made since the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Winning the Premier League by 2028 is not ‘mission impossible’
Man Utd have set out a plan to win the Premier League by 2028 – the club’s 150th anniversary.
“I don’t think it’s mission impossible. I think it’s good to have goals and objectives,” Ratcliffe told the BBC.
“If you look at Arsenal, if you look at Liverpool, if you look at the period of time it took them to get the house in order and get back to winning ways, that’s probably slightly on the short end of the spectrum. But it’s not impossible.”
His leadership team have inherited transfer debt from the past
Sir Jim Ratcliffe says Man Utd must pay more money towards Jadon Sancho’s transfer fee this summer – and have been paying half his wages while he’s been on loan at Chelsea
“If you look at the players we are buying this summer – that we didn’t buy – we’re buying Antony, we’re buying Casemiro, we’re buying [Andre] Onana, we’re buying [Rasmus] Hojlund, we’re buying [Jadon] Sancho,” he told the BBC, explaining how United are still having to complete payments on those deals.
“These are all things from the past, whether we like it or not, we’ve inherited those things and have to sort that out.
“For Sancho, who now plays for Chelsea and we pay half his wages, we’re paying £17m to buy him in the summer.”
Men’s team main focus – but women’s team ‘every bit as important’
“It’s a bit unfair,” Ratcliffe said to the BBC when asked about criticism of his comments about the women’s team. He was not present when they won the women’s FA Cup and it has been claimed he asked former captain Katie Zelem what her role was at the club during a tour of training facilities.
“What I said at the beginning was my main focus is on the men’s team because that, at the end of the day, is what moves the needle at Manchester United. The women’s team is much smaller than the men’s team.
“Of our £650m of income, £640m of that comes from the men’s team and £10m comes from the women’s team. With my business background you tend to focus on the bigger issues before you focus on the smaller issues.
“But the women’s team wear the Manchester United brand, the Manchester United logo, so in that sense they are every bit as important as the men’s team. And frankly, they are doing better than the men’s team – they are second in the league and won the FA Cup last season. Marc Skinner is doing a great job as the coach and the new captain Maya [Le Tissier] is doing a great job.”
When asked if he wanted to clear up the Zelem reports, he answered: “No, not really. I did ask Maya if she was related to Matt [Le Tissier] but the answer was no.”
Ratcliffe is pleased Rashford is doing well…
Marcus Rashford provided two assists to guide Aston Villa to victory vs Chelsea
“He’s moved out of Manchester and maybe that’s a good thing for him,” Ratcliffe told the BBC about Marcus Rashford, who is on loan at Aston Villa. “I am very pleased he is doing well. It’s good to see because he has got tremendous talent, but for whatever reason it wasn’t working in Manchester for the past couple of seasons. But he is a very talented footballer, Rashford.”
…but says Man Utd don’t need to sell top talent because of financial pressure
On selling their best players to ease financial concerns he said: “No no. We won’t be selling players because of the state we are in financially.
“The club had got bloated so we reduced that and will finish it with a lean and efficient organisation. That’s how we will address the costs. The player decisions will all be focused on how we are going to improve performance. That’s all.”
Man Utd bench had ‘hardly a name you’d recognise’ against Arsenal
Ratcliffe says context around player availability must be taken into account when assessing Amorim’s work.
“Ruben, against Arsenal, he only had half a squad,” Ratcliffe told Neville. “How many players would most people recognise on the bench [on Sunday]? There was hardly a name that you’d recognise.
“The guy that we brought on, (Ayden) Heaven, he’s only 18, we only bought him three weeks ago [sic – February 1] from Arsenal.
“Then we had (Chido) Obi on there, who’s only 16 [sic – 17], I think, and he’s played once for United [sic – three times].
“If you look at the top eight most expensive players that we’ve got in terms of salary, four of them are not available to Ruben.
“Now if you did that with Liverpool and Manchester City, that’s half the cream of your team gone. So I think I’ve seen progress.”
Ratcliffe reckons Zirkzee got ‘knocked about’ by Arsenal
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Highlights from the Premier League clash between Manchester United and Arsenal
Joshua Zirkzee has endured a difficult first season in England since signing from Bologna, with just three goals in 28 appearances in the top flight – and Ratcliffe says the challenge of the physicality of the league was evident at Old Trafford at the weekend.
“I think some of the players that we bought in the summer, you’ve seen them settle,” Ratcliffe told Neville.
“It’s quite tough, isn’t it? It’s not an easy league to play in and there’s a lot of scrutiny. Look how Zirkzee got knocked about [on Sunday] in the first half. He really got knocked about, didn’t he?
“He wouldn’t be used to that playing in the Italian league, so it takes time for players to settle.”
