How Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS have transformed Manchester United?
Join us as we take a deeper delve into how Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS have planted seeds that could see Manchester United return to the top of world football.
Image Credits: Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images
Manchester United, one of the most famous football clubs in the world, were once regarded as a powerhouse in European football, but ever since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement at the end of the 2012-13 season, the club have somewhat lost their competitive spirit and still yet to lift the English Premier League or UEFA Champions League titles.
Although the club have spent extensively in the transfer market and have brought in many world-class coaches but the performances on the pitch have not matched up to it. Many fans have labelled the constant failures as the lack of investment by the owners and people like Ed Woodward running the club.
But when the Glazers put Manchester United up for sale, either in full or in part on 22 November 2022, fans saw this as an escape and a road for the club to return to it’s old trophy-winning ways. The club was valued at around £3.75 billion at the time of the announcement and the club’s stock market value almost instantly went up.
While many showed interest, there were two main contenders who publicly declared their bids fighting for the rights to the club. Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani offered a reported deal close to $8B, with $6B going to the Glazers and the rest for direct investment back into the club. In contrast, Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS offered $1.5 billion for a 25 per cent stake in the club.
While a part of the fanbase wanted the complete takeover of the club and for the Glazers to finally leave the club once and for all. However the majority owners decided to accept Sir Jim Ratcliffe's minority takeover bid, which could be converted into a complete takeover in the coming years.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS complete minority takeover of Manchester United
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On 21st February 2024, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of a 27.7 per cent stake in Manchester United was confirmed. It was also confirmed that INEOS will be taking over the sporting side of the club.
Upon the completion of the minority takeover, life-long Man United fan Ratcliffe said: "To become co-owner of Manchester United is a great honour and comes with great responsibility.
"This marks the completion of the transaction, but just the beginning of our journey to take Manchester United back to the top of English, European and world football, with world-class facilities for our fans. Work to achieve those objectives will accelerate from today."
Since taking over the sporting side of the club, the Red Devils have overseen many structural changes.
New sporting structure at Manchester United
Interim CEO Patrick Stewart and CFO Cliff Baty stepped down from their positions at the end of the 2023-24 season, with Omar Berrada joining as CEO. Berrada joins the clubs from direct rivals Manchester City, where he served as the chief football operations officer. Berrada joined the Cityzens in 2011 and oversaw the most successful period in the club’s history. His arrival was seen as a massive statement of intent by the INEOS. But they didn’t stop there.
Jason Wilcox, who also previously worked at Man City as the Academy director from 2017-2022, and was working as the Director of football at Southampton at that time was brought in as the new Technical Director.
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The biggest hire during the new era at Man United was Dan Ashworth. Ashworth is very reputed in the English football system having worked as a Sporting/Technical director at West Brom, England FA, Brighton and most recently at Newcastle United. Ashworth’s keen desire to join the Red Devils project was the driving force behind his Newcastle exit as the Magpies demanded extensive compensation or for the Sporting director to be put on a long leave before joining his new club. But the clubs were able to agree on a compensation fee and Dan Ashworth finally joined Man United in summer 2024.
Christopher Vivell, the former Chelsea and RB Leipzig Technical director was hired on an interim basis as the recruitment director, completing the new look and much improved senior staff at Manchester United.
New contract for Erik ten Hag and new coaching staff
Erik ten Hag was extensively reported to be facing the axe at the end of the 2023-24 season, with reports even suggesting that the new hierarchy was interested in hiring then Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel and England manager Gareth Southgate. The fan base was also divided on the proposition of a new manager or sticking with the Dutch head coach.
But the FA Cup triumph in the last game of the 2023-24 season probably saved the Dutch manager’s job. Although INEOS did predominantly conant many coaches over the summer of 2024, but in the end, they decided to stay with Erik ten Hag. Handing him a new contract that will run till 2026, under the new title “first team manager”, meaning an end of the manager’s extensive influence in the identification of transfer targets and strategy.
Alongside the new contract for the Dutch manager, his background staff was also strengthened. Erik ten Hag’s assistant coach Van der Gaag left the club in the summer of 2024. With two highly-rated managers Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake. Rene Hake was the manager of Go Ahead Eagles. While Ruud van Nistelrooy was the manager of Eredivisie side PSV and was the favourite to take over the Burnley job, but instead decided to re-join the Red Devils after his successful run as a player.
Also in the summer of 2024, during the club’s pre-season tour in the USA, Andreas Georgson was announced as the club’s new set piece coach, joining from Norwegian side Lillestrom, where he was head coach since January 2024.
New transfer strategy and recruitment policy
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While Man United’s scouting department was never in question but the club’s ability to agree on deals, ability to work on multiple transfer targets at once and overpaying for almost every target were constantly questioned by the media and fans.
But this all seems to be changing after Sim Jim Ratcliff’s takeover. Manchester United swiftly completed the signing of Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee, for a fee close to £36.5m (€42.5m), slightly above his £34.4m (€40m) release clause, but it is in exchange for a more favourable payment terms.
While the club might have slightly overpaid (€62m (£52m)) for highly-rated young French centre-half Leni Yoro, the club did beat favourites Real Madrid for his signature. While PSG also had shown interest in the youngster. The club have also been working on deals to bring in other transfer targets including Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Manuel Ugarte and Martín Zubimendi.
While on the departures front, the club have moved on deadwood and players on massive wages with Anthony Martial and Raphael Varane leaving the club as free agents. The club have finally sold Donny van de Beek, youngster Willy Kambwala has joined Villarreal for £9.7m, while Mason Greenwood has joined Marseille for £26.7m with the club also holding a 50% sell-on clause for the forward.
£50 million project was started in the summer of 2024 to modernise the men’s first team building at Carrington Training Complex. The iconic Old Trafford tunnel was also given a revamp. While plans are already underway for a state-of-the-art new stadium with reports suggesting a 100,000-seat stadium replacing Old Trafford.
While nothing is guaranteed in the world of football, but the early signs under the new leadership are really promising and the childhood Man United fan Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s plan to get the club back on top of European football is well and truly underway.
With over a decade of experience in sports writing, Hardik Malhotra has built a distinguished career in the internet industry. His expertise spans across various domains including Art Direction, Web Content Writing, and Content Management, all underscored by a high degree of initiative. Hardik’s passion for sports is reflected in his professional journey and personal interests.