Man United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe may well be keeping an eye on Leeds United amid his own struggles with UEFA’s dual ownership rules.
Ratcliffe, who became United’s single biggest individual shareholder when he bought a 28 per cent stake of United earlier this year, also owns Ligue 1 side Nice.
The Manchester-born billionaire watched Erik Ten Hag‘s side deliver the first silverware of the new era last week by winning the FA Cup against Man City. And that qualified United for next season’s Europa League.
However, as reported by The Telegraph, Ratcliffe has until Monday to find a solution regarding his simultaneous ownership of United and Nice because of UEFA rules on clubs under the same ownership umbrella playing in the same competition.
If he fails to do so, United will be relegated to the Europa Conference League.
But Ratcliffe may well follow the approach taken by Leeds‘ new co-owners Red Bull, who today acquired a minority stake in the West Yorkshire club.
United may follow Red Bull example
Leeds are the latest addition to the Red Bull investment portfolio, alongside clubs like RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and more.
Red Bull managed to resolve a dispute with UEFA when those two clubs both qualified for the Europa League in 2018-19.
UEFA threatened one of the teams with expulsion from the competition, but Red Bull managed to ensure there was an adequate degree of corporate separation between the two sides that qualified as distinct entities.
Ratcliffe may want to follow their lead and disentangle the structures of United and Nice to ensure that they do not take a circa £30million hit by falling out of Europe’s second-tier competition.
What next for the multi-club model?
The majority of clubs in the Premier League now are part of a multi-club network of some description.
Ratcliffe has previously signalled that he would like to expand his own multi-club system with United as the mothership.
The issue of dual ownership will persist, however.
It may well be an issue Leeds themselves encounter further down the line if the 49ers and Red Bull can steer them towards promotion and, eventually, European football.
But UEFA president Alexander Ceferin has hinted that the rules could be relaxed at some point in the not too distant future.
While a less restrictive system would likely be supported by most clubs, however, it would not necessarily have the support of fans, for whom the issue of multi-club ownership is far more contentious.
The recent examples of 777 Partners losing control of a number of clubs in their network because of financial mismanagement, as well as growing disquiet among the fanbases of some of Man City’s subsidiary teams will only entrench doubts that the multi-club model is a threat to the sport’s integrity.