Sir Jim Ratcliffe was not afraid to voice his opinion on Manchester United’s questionable use of money in the transfer market during his visit to the club in March
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Football Digest: Ratcliffe closes in on deal for 25% stake in Man Utd
Sir Jim Ratcliffe reportedly openly criticised the signing of Casemiro during a face-to-face meeting with Manchester United executives earlier this year.
Ratcliffe is set to purchase a 25 per cent minority stake in United for £1.4billion after his only competitor, Sheikh Jassim, backed out of the drawn-out process. The Glazers and the United board will vote on whether to accept Ratcliffe’s bid at a meeting on Thursday.
The 70-year-old was born in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, and is a supporter of the club that he is trying to buy into. He is already involved in the running of two football clubs – Nice and Lausanne – and has previously not been shy in voicing his opinion on United, who he says invested “dumb money” in spending £52million on Fred in 2018.
And Ratcliffe was not afraid to make a similar point when he and his INEOS colleagues visited the club in March. The Guardian reports that Ratcliffe questioned the signing of Casemiro during a meeting which included United’s chief executive Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough.
Led by Arnold and Murtough, United splashed out £60million to sign Casemiro from Real Madrid in August 2022. They handed the Brazil international, who was 30 at the time, a four-year contract worth around £350,000-a-week, which makes him one of the highest earners at the club.
He has become a key player, anchoring the midfield for Erik ten Hag, but his recent performances have dipped. Casemiro was sent off in the 3-2 defeat by Galatasaray and has struggled at times during United’s poor start to the campaign.
Casemiro cost Manchester United £60million (
Image:
Getty Images)
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As reported by Mirror Football, Ratcliffe will be given control of the football side of the business at United when the deal goes through. He wants to bring in his own people from INEOS, which means the positions of Arnold and Murtough could come under threat.
United spent over £170m this summer to bring in Rasmus Hojlund, Mason Mount and Andre Onana, while over £200m was spent in the summer of 2022 to sign Casemiro, Antony, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia. Despite the high expenditure, United have struggled this season and sit 10th in the Premier League with 12 points from eight games. They have also lost both of their Champions League matches.
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Ratcliffe may be a fan of United, but he will take a ruthless approach to the club if he is given control. Speaking to The Times in 2019, he slammed United’s recruitment record: “[Ineos] never wants to be the dumb money in town, never, never. [United] haven’t got the manager selection right, haven’t bought well. They have been the dumb money, which you see with players like Fred.
“We won’t look elsewhere until we have had a good run here (at Nice). We need to find out how to be successful before you ever want to write a big cheque. It’s quite difficult.”
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