What would Ratcliffe taking control of the football department mean?
Provided Sir Jim Ratcliffe gets the expected approval from Manchester United’s board this week, for the premium cost of his 25% stake – £1.3bn prices the club at £5.2bn (approaching twice its £2.63bn value) – he will take control of what makes Manchester United the club it is: the sporting department. That is headed by the football director, John Murtough, and his appointed manager, Erik ten Hag, so could their futures be in doubt? Another question is what authority Ratcliffe will actually wield. Whenever a material change is desired will he be stymied by the Glazers, who remain in overall charge, or is his power to be contractually baked into the 25% holding? If the latter, a clue regarding how United’s fortunes could be affected is found at Nice, who he bought in the summer of 2019. Since then the French club, whose last league title was in 1959 and who have not finished as runners-up since 1976, have placed fifth, ninth, fifth and ninth, while they are currently second. Definitely expect him to make his own appointments – which may mean Paul Mitchell, Monaco’s sporting director until March, dislodging Murtough, or Sir Dave Brailsford, the director of sport for Ratcliffe’s Ineos, joining from Nice.
