Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the new part-owner of Manchester United, has criticized the club’s transfer activities since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013. Speaking candidly to Bloomberg Television, Ratcliffe highlighted the club’s spending issues and shared his vision for Manchester United’s future.
Ratcliffe believes there is significant room for improvement at Manchester United. “There is room for improvement everywhere. And we will improve everything because we need to be competing for the Premier League and Champions League,” he said. He aims to bring the club back to competing for the Premier League and Champions League titles, similar to the success seen at Real Madrid. However, he acknowledges that this transformation will take time and cannot happen overnight. “We need to be where Real Madrid is today. We are not there at the moment, and it will take some time. We cannot flick a switch.”
When asked about his ideal club model, Ratcliffe pointed to Real Madrid. He cited an interesting comparison between the two clubs over the last decade. Since Ferguson and former chief executive David Gill left, Manchester United’s net spend on players has reached £1.1 billion. In contrast, Real Madrid’s net spend is only £200 million over the same period. Despite the lower spending, Real Madrid has developed a squad with several players valued at over €100 million each, something Manchester United currently lacks. Additionally, Real Madrid has constructed one of the finest football stadiums in the world using the same financial resources.
Comparing Manchester United and Real Madrid’s management
Ratcliffe argues that these statistics highlight the superior quality of Real Madrid’s management compared to Manchester United’s. “If you look at the 10 or 11 seasons since Ferguson and former chief executive David Gill left, during that time United’s net spend on players is now £1.1 billion. So United have not been mean with the cheque book, they’ve actually spent an awful lot of money. Real Madrid’s over that same period is only £200 million. Which is surprising when you hear that. Because today they have a squad where six players are valued at more than €100 million – whereas Man Utd do not have any players that are valued at that. And Madrid have built probably the finest football ground in the world, using the same chequebook.”
Net spend is a key metric in this comparison, the difference between money raised through player sales and money spent on new players. When asked about his spending plans, Ratcliffe emphasized that the solution is not simply to buy high-profile players like Kylian Mbappe. “The solution is not to buy a Kylian Mbappe. The first thing we need to do is build a balanced squad.”
He cautioned that solving Manchester United’s problems will take several transfer windows, and he does not expect all issues to be resolved this summer. Ratcliffe is already taking a different approach by holding back on Jarrad Branthwaite’s transfer, considering Everton’s £70 million asking price unreasonable. This contrasts with Manchester United’s past practices, such as paying Leicester £78.3 million for Harry Maguire without hesitation. The club has a history of spending large sums on players who have not met expectations, including £89.3 million on Paul Pogba, £50 million on Fred, £85 million on Antony, and £60 million on Mason Mount.
Despite these spending issues, Ratcliffe does not blame the current coach, Erik ten Hag. He noted that the coach is not the central issue at Manchester United. “The coach isn’t the central issue at Manchester United.” The club decided to retain Ten Hag after he won the FA Cup, but only after conducting an end-of-season review and interviewing several other managers.
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