The new owner doesn’t care about money. Ratcliffe wants to get Manchester United back to the top at any cost

There are many billionaires in the football world who own clubs, but not all of them invest as much as they could. Now Manchester United has a new owner, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe holding a 25% stake through his company INEOS. Moreover, the big Red Devils fan was to confirm to everyone at Old Trafford that he would put sporting success before finance.

Ratcliffe wants to win

For Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Manchester United is a matter of the heart. That probably played a part in his unwillingness to allow the club to be taken over by wealthy sheikhs. His British multinational conglomerate INEOS eventually bought a 25% stake in the club after months of speculation and is now getting down to business.

The Athletic reports that Ratcliffe has assured everyone at Old Trafford that he will put sporting success before financial gain. This is certainly great news for the fans after a long period of misery.

Manchester United has now been run for many years by the Glazer family, a family that fans have had major problems with in recent years. They blame it on a 10-year period of failure. A close look at the finances speaks for itself. But that could now be over.

Is money really what Manchester United needs?

Manchester United has failed to transform itself into a modern club since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson and could be said to be frozen in time. It’s just that the main problems have been hidden behind the one thing that shuts the mouths of all critics – transfers.

It was the buying of new reinforcements that created the perception at Old Trafford that he had a desire to win titles. This was undoubtedly the case, but the more they overpaid for players who had a successful season, the more the club withered.

In the last 10 years, only Manchester City (€1.92 billion) and Chelsea (€2.46 billion) have spent more on new signings than Manchester United (€1.8 billion). All these big purchases have always shut the mouths of any fans who protested against the management. But…

The management completely ignored the fact that the club needed investment in facilities and overall modernisation. It hasn’t even managed to bring in a capable coach who could do what Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola can do with their current teams.

All the coaches after Ferguson’s departure merely bought overpriced players who subsequently burned out like a candle, some sooner and some later, but all in the end were decidedly less wanted than before they arrived at Old Trafford.

That is exactly what Ratcliffe will be trying to prevent. He is reportedly going to invest heavily in upgrading the stadium and the training centre. This, of course, is linked to the fact that the right skilled people should start to flow into Old Trafford and together they will lift the club. And that includes the players themselves.

When and if the English billionaire will actually succeed in lifting the club is the question. However, there is no doubt that riding a wave of positivity plays a big part in sport. This is what the Leicester story has shown. If everything is grasped at the right end, Manchester United can celebrate success as early as next season. The team has enough quality on paper, certainly more than Leicester had when they won the Premier League.

Source: The Athletic, Transfermarkt, Manchester United