Ineos chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe will need to borrow a page from the playbook of former manager Sir Alex Ferguson if he wants to transform Manchester United.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe became co-owner of Manchester United after he captured a minority stake in the Premier League club in 2023.
Both the Football Association and the Premier League ratified Ratcliffe’s purchase in 2024, with the British billionaire keen to restore United’s prestige.
Ratcliffe has already channelled his inner Sir Alex Ferguson and vowed to knock Manchester City and Liverpool off their perch in the foreseeable future.
The 71-year-old British billionaire’s deal to purchase United included his Ineos team taking control of football operations at the Red Devils.
Ratcliffe has also put up £236m for future investment into Old Trafford and the United co-owner is keen for a ‘Wembley of the North’ as part of his plans.
Ratcliffe begins early changes at Man Utd
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos team will have all eyes on them for how they handle the summer transfer window at Manchester United.
The Ineos chief has already made sweeping behind-the-scenes changes at Old Trafford, including the appointment of Jason Wilcox as a technical director.
Omar Berrada has been appointed as chief executive of United and will begin in his new role on 13th July after his departure from Manchester City.
Ineos’ Jean-Claude Blanc is currently on the board of directors for United, while former Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth is a key target for the club.
According to The Guardian in May, Ratcliffe signalled an end to the work-from-home policy at United and urged for staff to return to the office under his regime.
The Metro later reported that United staff were offered one week to decide whether or not they wanted to resign ahead of a new full-time office mandate.
Reports from The Daily Mail on Tuesday emerged that Ratcliffe’s Ineos is set to signal another culture change at United’s Carrington training complex.
The newspaper claimed that United staff outside of the first-team squad would ‘no longer be able to dine’ with players.
The latest culture change would be the exact opposite stance held by Sir Alex Ferguson, who was keen on a deeper integration of everyone at United.
Ferguson’s ‘really important’ trait at Man Utd
Speaking on the UTD Podcast, Gary Neville revealed the culture that Ferguson brought to Old Trafford and how he was involved in every aspect at United.
Gary Neville, who spent his entire playing career under Ferguson, insisted that the former United manager’s “really important” aim was to make ‘everyone feel valued.’
“He actually managed the club, the 500-600 people that were here at the time,” he said, as per Manchester United’s official website.
“They all looked up to him and he communicated with them all. He knew everyone’s name.
“He knew your parents’ names. He knew your brother’s name. Your sister’s name. That’s not just my brother and sister – everybody’s…
“He remembered everybody and he made people feel really important across the whole club. That’s the thing that’s really important: everyone felt valued.”