What could one buy with £1.67billion? An archipelago of islands? An established airline?
At Manchester United, that figure is the transfer outlay spent on new arrivals, according to CIES Football Observatory, since 2014 - a mammoth splurge that has produced arguably just Bruno Fernandes as the one signing who can be regarded as a success.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who spent less when acquiring a 25 per cent stake in United, has seen enough.
Some of the best coaches in world football have thrown money at trying to fix United’s rotten form, but ill-fitting talented stars have come in and flunked, leaving the sleeping giant firmly in its slumber.
Ratcliffe knows that cannot go on. His focus as he looks to make his mark on his boyhood team is to overhaul the club’s transfer approach to stop the wastage endemic at Old Trafford for too long.
Fans hoping for a Kylian Mbappe-type blockbuster January signing need to think again - this time, things are going to be done properly.
Monaco’s Youssouf Fofana is a long-term United target, while Roony Bardghji is also still hot on everyone’s lips
A side who have already lost 12 matches this term in all competitions could always accommodate some fresh faces. Despite spending hundreds of millions of reinforcements, 35-year-old Jonny Evans has been a regular starter in defence, Casemiro’s decline has left a gaping void in midfield, while United’s frontline, remarkably, has not scored a single home league goal between them all season with Antony, their second most expensive signing ever, looking especially out of his depth.
Working out what to do with the troubled Brazilian, as well Jadon Sancho, who is still training alone at United’s academy facilities after his public falling out with Erik ten Hag, are high on Ratcliffe’s agenda.
Selling one, or either - with Saudi Arabian clubs eyeing a January bid for Sancho - could free up some cash for Ratcliffe to at least revitalise a struggling dressing room.
The Manchester-born billionaire is not expected to have his feet under the desk for at least another six to eight weeks, but he has been in “constant dialogue” with the Glazers family owners.
Two figures Ratcliffe knows well could follow the INEOS chairman to Manchester. Monaco’s Youssouf Fofana is a long-term United target, while another player on the club’s radar is Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo, a Ratcliffe employee already but one Tottenham are very keen on. Roony Bardghji, the teenager who broke United hearts in a chastening November defeat to FC Copenhagen, is also still hot on everyone’s lips at Old Trafford.
A seismic shift in mindset, however, is the main priority. There are plenty of weaknesses all over the pitch to resolve, but until there is a more measured approach to how they conduct transfers, spending will be curtailed.
Ratcliffe will be part of a three-person committee overseeing the football side of the club alongside his right-hand man at INEOS, Sir Dave Brailsford, and one of the six Glazer family siblings who retain a majority stake, Joel.
Brailsford will lead a transfer policy audit after Ratcliffe identified the problem area. This process has already begun, but insiders stress it will take time to complete, given the myriad of incompetence at all levels within the United setup.
Those who have worked closely with the former British Cycling performance director insist one of his greatest strengths is knowing when others should be brought in to focus on areas outside of his core skills.
Such a trait has been conspicuous by its absence at Old Trafford - key football decisions have been taken by the wrong people for too long.
For many years, Ed Woodward, a chartered accountant, was calling the shots in the transfer market.
Then, alongside Woodward’s successor as chief executive, Bristol University friend and now-departed Richard Arnold, former Everton director of development John Murtough was instilled as the club’s first-ever football director in 2021, light years after the rest of their rivals, but his track record has been chequered, to say the least.
Key football decisions have been taken by the wrong people for too long
Murtough plans to be able to convince Ratcliffe he is the man to lead a transfer revolution, but after Arnold’s exit, the writing appears to be on the wall for the former Everton Director of Development, with Ratcliffe considering bringing his “own people” in, ones with the credentials worthy of what is left of United’s grandeur.
An elite sporting director could be United’s best signing of the decade. Former Tottenham head of recruitment Paul Mitchell is a leading candidate, as is Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth.
Several sources close to Ratcliffe have described Mitchell as the “perfect” option, given his glittering CV. He has recently left his position as sporting director at Monaco where he “operated in the same circles” as Ratcliffe and has moved back to the Manchester area.
Standard Sport understands Brailsford favours a move for Ashworth, who is a close friend, even though Newcastle will do all they can to resist any approach.
There has been a recent shift in transfer approach at United, with Ten Hag given more responsibility – but that has not worked either.
At the majority of Europe’s top teams, the manager is left to coach, and that is what awaits Ten Hag going forward – not signing former Ajax players every year, for exorbitant fees.
The plan to knock City off their perch starts behind closed doors. Hundreds of millions will not be thrown at the problem, at least not yet.
The strategy should have been put in place years ago - the right people, making the right signings to fit the club’s ethos – and is an approach that will essentially outlive any manager.
The wastage, in Ratcliffe’s eyes, cannot go on.
