Three questions about Rajue's entry into Manchester United: Ten Hag will be retained, management will be replaced, and when will Glazer leave
On 24 December, Manchester United announced that Ratcliffe had acquired a 25% stake in the club for £1.25 billion. Whether Ten Hag will be sacked and whether the Glazer family will eventually leave Manchester United has raised a number of questions.
What changes will Ratcliffe make?
Announcing the completion of the 25 per cent stake on Christmas Eve, one of Ratcliffe's goals is to gain a say in how United operate before the winter window opens. According to media outlets, Paul Mitchell, who is currently Monaco's sporting director, will be Manchester United's sporting director, having previously worked as a scout for Southampton, Tottenham and Leipzig.
In addition, Blanco, who has served as general manager of Juventus and Paris, is considering becoming the CEO of Manchester United, and Brailsford, who has extensive experience in running sports events, will also play a key role in the United United Province.
One of the most concerned topics for fans is Ten Hag's departure, with Sky Sports revealing that Ten Hag's managership is not under direct threat, but he is also well aware that the team's results need to be improved.
Why Is The Transaction Delaying For So Long?
It took 13 months from the Glazer family's announcement of the sale of Manchester United to Ratcliffe's eventual acquisition of a 25% stake. So why did this acquisition take so long?
The Financial Times previously revealed that Ratcliffe's investment had been delayed due to concerns about the protection of minority shareholders. In addition, there are disputes over the future ownership of Manchester United, including whether Ratcliffe will seek full control of the club in the future.
In fact, Ratcliffe initially focused on total control, with the goal of buying out the remaining shares of the club after three years. However, in October 2022, Ratcliffe amended the agreement in an attempt to break the deadlock.
Manchester United fans have been concerned that Ratcliffe's acquisition of 25 per cent of the shares will lead to the Glazer family remaining at Manchester United. In fact, the Glazer family has been boosting their valuation of Manchester United, partly because they believe that the company's broadcasting rights will rise in value in the future, but also because they believe that Manchester United's most famous sports brand has not yet been fully exploited commercially, in other words, they believe that they can still "suck blood" from Manchester United.
What are the challenges facing Ratcliffe?
Prior to the announcement of Ratcliffe's 25 per cent stake, United had slipped to eighth place in the Premier League and faced the prospect of not being able to play in Europe next season. Legendary Neville pointed out: "The Premier League is very competitive, but you have to get the team back to exciting form and be a team that fans want to watch. ”
"There is no doubt that a new director of football is coming in because that's Ratcliffe. He's going to make radical changes because the United defeat has been going on for 10 years and he's going to make many, many changes. ”
'Manchester United have reached the point where they are knocked out of the competition and they have to try to move up the table, obviously they can't get a ticket to the Champions League, but the question is whether they can qualify for the Europa League? ”
In fact, Ratcliffe was almost facing a "last stand". Neville pointed out that "if he hadn't been successful, then the Glazer family would have stayed at the club. It would be great if Ratcliffe could succeed. Hopefully, he will have a good plan for the departure of the Glazer family in the next 3 to 5 years. ”