Sir Jim Ratcliffe- the right owner? Not really
Five Potential Red Flags For Potential Ownership of Sir Jim Ratcliffe ownership of Manchester United
In what is music to the ears of Manchester United fans, the bidding war for the ownership of Manchester United has begun. The first in the race to buy the club is Sir Jim Ratcliffe. For the unversed the 70 year old is CEO of INEOS group which is a company dealing with chemicals which was found in 1998 nearly 25 years ago. The personal net worth of Sir Jim is rumored to be around 21 billion and is perhaps the wealthiest British national. Does that solely make him eligible person to get his hands to the keys of the biggest club in the world. Or Does it really have a red flag? There is more than one red flag and you need to read below to find out.
Continuation of the glazer era-
The allure and glow of potential ownership by Sir Jim could wear off by the time the start of next season arrives. When he takes over Manchester United, Sir Jim will not just have to build it from the bottom, but will also have make a few enhancements. The main things in focus will the Stadium, the training facilities and the new management and player purchases and departures. What Sir Jim will have at his disposal is minimal budget since INEOS will have a huge say in the way the club has perform.
INEOS has an operating income of 61 billion, if the United fans think that most of the money is going to make it through the coffers of Old Trafford they are in for rude shock. Because as you will read in the next point the money may be hard to pinch off. Sir Jim, may use Manchester United to further his business interests and use it as an leverage while ignoring the team on the whole. There is a good chance he may not but there is a very good chance he could.
Other vested interests –
One and this is a huge red flag, is that INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe have all their fingers in the proverbial Cookie Jar. They own FC Lausanne Sport ( More about this later) a Swiss football club, FC Nice which is a French Football Club and they also own the Team INEOS cycling. All these interests will need money and they are also sponsors of the National rugby team of New Zealand and have a signed a long term deal with the Formula 1 team Mercedes AMG.
There is no need to tell you the readers that Formula one is perhaps one of the richest endevaours and can leave a hole in the pocket. In such a scenario a potential purchase or even thoughts of purchasing Manchester United is a bit too much. May be the board and the people at INEOS would have worked out what to do if they land up at Old Trafford. But the fans may not like what they could see as you will read next.
Bad investment choices and terrible performances –
OGC Nice was bought by Sir Jim for 100 million in the month of July in 2019. Since then, Sir Jim and INEOS have presided over a few transfer windows. Here are each and every player bought and sold and you may see a striking resemblance to what is happening at Manchester United.
Year
Players Bought and Sold (Value in mIllion)
Total Value
Total Spend
2019/20(Summer)
K. Dolberg (20.5), Stanley Nsoki (12), Alexis Claude Maurice (7.5) Hicham Boudaoui (4). Paul Fargeas, Justin Smith, J.DI. Stasio and K. Thuram (Free)
44M
Sold / loaned out or went for free
5 players sold including – Allan Saint Maximin for 18 million to Newcastle. 8 players left for free.
22.6
-21.4 Million
2020/21- Player purchases
Robson Bambu (8), Amine Gouiri (7), Jordan Lotomba (6), Hassane Kamara (4)Morgan Schneiderlin (2.2), Lucas Da Cunha (1) plus 3 players bought on free
28.2
Player Sales
6 players sold for money while 5 left on free
21.5
-6.7
2021/22 – Player purchases
Calvin Stengs (15), Andy Delport (10), JC Todibo (8.5), Bilal Brahimi (7), Pablo Rosario (6), Mario Lemina (5.5) and Melvin Bard (3) plus 2 arrived on free transfer
55
Players sold
5 players sold plus 6 left on free transfers.
27.5
-27.5
2022/23- Player purchases
S. Diop (22), G. Laborde (15), M. Viti (13), A. Beka Beka (12), R. Ille (5), M. Bulka (2) and K. Schmeichel (1). Aaron Ramsey and Ross Barkley were 2 of the 3 players to arrive on free. Nicolas Pepe came on a season long loan
70
Players sold
3 players sold while 8 players left on free transfer
44 m
-26 M
The above table is a hard and hazardous read for sure but that is a pre cursor of things to come if INEOS and Sir Jim do pick up Manchester United. There is a pattern emegering. The purchases are high and the sales are less with the youth of the club being let to go for free. United cannot afford to have this done again as this was the same thing done by the glazer family. Another striking aspect is the fact that, most of the big name players bought are way past the 30’s and this has been one of the reasons Manchester United haven’t really competed for titles in recent times. Signing players based on previous glory and reputation only for them to fail.
Sustainable model or no ambition?
One of the YouTube channels I saw once the news broke of Sir Jim putting in a bid, the first words uttered were Sustainable model from the fans. Well the model at Nice isn’t sustainable by any view. Nice as a club has no historical evidence of being a major player in the French league. Manchester United on the other are a different animal with different aura and ambitions.
Since the time Sir Jim took over, OGC Nice has finished 5th, 9th, 5th and are currently 10th in the league. So that would mean 2 Europa League qualifications for the team from the French league. FC Laussane Sport on the other hand had a miserable start under the INEOS regime as they suffered relegation. They did make a comeback and Sir Jim decided to make his brother the club president
Manchester United fan? really?
One of the biggest reason many Manchester United fans have welcome the news of Sir Jim’s bis is because he has been called a huge Man United fan. Well let me burst the bubble for you, just like the Glazers, Sir Jim is a business man. Remember he tried to buy Chelsea for over 4 billion and also expressed in interest in Liverpool (reportedly but denied) and is also supposed to have shown interest in West Ham United. This is a fair example of Sir Jim being a proper businessman rather than a “fan”. Coz as a fan Sir Jim would have put in more efforts to oust the Glazers much earlier.
Conclusion –
Sir Jim Ratcliffe may have the best interests in mind and the bid may be at its early stages. But all the above red flags should worry the fans to have their say to nip the plans in the nascent stages. We cannot afford another re-run of the horrendous Glazer family saga. The time is for the club and its fan to dream big and dream on par with a Man City or PSG and for that we need huge capital. And that unfortunately isn’t Sir Jim Ratcliffe a self projected Manchester United fan or not.