Sir Jim Ratcliffe raised eyebrows with comments about Manchester United’s financial woes back in March and his claims have seemingly not gone down well with the Glazers
The Glazer family are said to have been less than impressed with Sir Jim Ratcliffe following the Ineos chief’s claim that Manchester United were at risk of ‘going bust by Christmas’ earlier this year.
Ratcliffe, 72, acquired a minority stake in his boyhood club back in December 2023. The terms of his agreement with the Glazers has seen the petrochemicals billionaire assume control of sporting operations at Old Trafford, though the Americans have remained at the club.
Since taking control at United, Ratcliffe has overseen a number of cost-cutting measures in his bid to return the club to profitability, including around 450 redundancies.
Ratcliffe laid the club’s financial woes bare in an interview with BBC Sport to reason for such moves, where the Brit revealed the funds he injected had helped to keep United afloat.
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“Manchester United would have run out of cash by the end of this year – by the end of 2025 – after having me put $300m (£232.72m) in and if we buy no new players in the summer,” he explained back in March.
“We are in the process of change and it’s an uncomfortable period and disruptive and I do feel sympathy with the fans. The simple answer is the club runs out of money at Christmas if we don’t do those things.”
A new report from The Athletic has now revealed that particular claim ‘did sat easily’ with the Glazers. The report also notes that ‘ripples of discontent’ have been noticed by some within United’s hierarchy, with Ratcliffe’s desire to hold ExCos in different locations – ones which are ‘primarily suited to him’ – have made things slightly more inconvenient for the Glazers.
While the Glazers have been the subject of discontent among the supporter base for years, Ratcliffe has also been targeted in recent months in the wake of some of his cost-cutting measures.
United, meanwhile, have continued to struggle on the pitch and are currently languishing in 16th place as their worst ever campaign of the Premier League era mercifully draws to a close.
Ruben Amorim admitted to being ’embarrassed’ by United’s current plight and even suggested that he should be sacked if results do not improve next season ahead of a seismic summer for the club and their hierarchy.
He said: “It’s not the players’ fault. It’s my fault, I’m responsible. If we cannot change that really fast, we should give our place to different persons.”
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