Sir Jim Ratcliffe has said that Manchester United are no longer an “elite” club after becoming “mediocre” and believes he faces a big task to address the “inertia” at Old Trafford.
The United co-owner, who has left most fans unhappy since he paid £1.3bn to take a 27.7 percent stake in the club, has defended his decision to raise ticket prices and criticised the “poor” recruitment at the club before he came in and took charge of football operations by claiming the club’s data analysis department is stuck in the last century.
The Ineos billionaire has set United the target of winning the league title again by 2028, their 150th anniversary, but accepted that will be impossible if they do not buy better as he outlined how they are still paying for past mistakes in the transfer window.
Ratcliffe has brought in a new football structure, with chief executive Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth, technical director Jason Wilcox, and by putting Ineos’ director of sport Sir Dave Brailsford and CEO of sport Jean-Claude Blanc on the United board.
But he took aim at the previous regime, when the Glazers were in charge, Richard Arnold was chief executive and John Murtough was football director, as he underlined the problems he inherited.
He told United We Stand: “Manchester United has become mediocre. It's not elite and it is supposed to be one of the best football clubs in the world. That's what it used to be under [Sir] Alex [Ferguson]. There is major change to come to achieve elite status. But already there has been huge change at this club.
“It’s not easy and it's not quick. It's a complicated problem and because it has been going for such a long time in this direction, that’s a lot of inertia that has built up in the organisation. Trying to turn what has been relatively mediocre into an elite, top team, is a big task.”
Ratcliffe said United are still paying the fees of players signed before his investment. Under the previous regime, they committed £85m to Antony, £72m to Rasmus Hojlund and £63m to Casemiro, while their summer outlay of around £200m took their overall expenditure under former manager Erik ten Hag past £600m.
He explained: “If you buy a player for £50m in the modern world, you don't pay £50m up front. You pay £10m, then £20m and then the balance. We are paying for all the players we’ve bought before we arrived. And they’re expensive.”
Ratcliffe is trying to ensure United have the best record in the transfer market in the global game but claimed they have been left far behind by clubs who used statistics better to research signings. Dominic Jordan, who was appointed United’s director of data by Murtough in March 2022, left in August.
And Ratcliffe said: “We must have the best recruitment in the world. Data analysis comes alongside recruitment. It doesn't really exist here. We're still in the last century on data analysis here.
“If you look at the big issues - and it's not rocket science - then it's what we need to get recruitment sorted. It has been poor. To build a squad capable of winning the Champions League then you need two things - you have to be really good at recruitment and you have to have enough money to invest. If your squad isn't good enough you can't win the Champions League, no matter how good [new manager] Ruben [Amorim] is. So that's why we need some patience.”
Ratcliffe has made around 250 members of staff redundant and has raised some ticket prices at Old Trafford to £66, drawing protests from supporters. But he said he had to run the club, which made a loss of £113m last year, more like the businesses in which he has made his fortune.
He added: “We can't run a business in loss which is where United have been in the last couple of years - losing money. If you're losing money then you have to borrow from the bank to pay for the losses. Eventually that becomes unsustainable.”
Ratcliffe has admitted he has made some mistakes at United – saying “our antenna wasn’t perfect and we have made one or two errors,” – but said his cost-cutting and money-raising policies were essential. But he claimed he is not trying to price Mancunian fans out of the club but said he is willing to be unpopular.
He said: “I was brought up on a council estate in Manchester, I absolutely get that. I don't want to end up in a position where the genuine local fans can't afford to come, but I do want to optimise the ticketing. I don't think it makes sense for a Manchester United ticket to cost less than a ticket to see Fulham. We need to find a balance. And you can't be popular all the time either.”
Ratcliffe is considering whether to rebuild Old Trafford or to construct a new stadium, with his preference being the latter, but he said he would not put “financial stress” on the club.
He added: “If we can build a 100,000-capacity stadium then we will fill it. Our income would go up enormously. If look at Spain, they have the two best grounds in the world, the Bernabeu and the Nou Camp, which will have 105,000 seats. Fabulous grounds. In the UK we don't have a single ground that can hold a candle to the grounds of those two iconic clubs in Spain. The one club which should be able to is Manchester United and Old Trafford doesn't do that.”
