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Football

20th Jun 2024

Sir Jim Ratcliffe gives damning verdict on Man Utd squad with no players of real value

Harry Warner

Man United

It’s not what United fans will want to hear

Manchester United part owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has said that Manchester United’s squad contains no players of high value while comparing his squad to Real Madrid.

In an extensive interview with Bloomberg, Ratcliffe spoke about a multitude of issues facing his team as well as the Premier League.

The English billionaire gave a damning summary of Manchester United’s post Fergie era.

He said: “Manchester United’s net spend since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill is £1.1billion. Real Madrid’s is £200m. Today they have 6 or 7 players valued at over £100m. United have none. And they have made the new Bernabeu.”

The statement is a scorning indictment of how former CEO Ed Woodward ran Manchester United who have haemorrhaged money, as highlighted by Ratcliffe.

This issue of finances was also a talking point of the Ineos owner who sympathised with United’s fierce noisy neighbours, Manchester City, saying, “I can understand why they are challenging it”, in regards to the Sky Blues being taken to court over 115 charges from the Premier League.

Ratcliffe challenged how the Premier League are punishing clubs.

He said: “We’ve got more accountants than we’ve got sporting people at Manchester United, If you’re not careful, the Premier League is going to finish up spending more time in court than it is thinking about what’s good for the league.”

Ultimately the minority owner of United gave his thoughts on the future of the club saying that they aim to “be where Real Madrid is today, but it’ll take time” following up by saying, “It will take two or three summer windows to get to a better place.”

Manchester United have already had an eventful early Summer, with the Erik ten Hag saga taking up the last month.

Ten Hag was subject to a review which ultimately saw him retain his position as manager at Old Trafford.

Only in the last few days Sir Jim Ratcliffe announced the £50m overhaul of Manchester United’s training centre in Carrington which will be seen as a step in the right direction for The Red Devils.