Sir Jim Ratcliffe is still hoping to buy a stake in Manchester United before taking control of the club’s football operations.
This comes at a time the team is not getting results on the pitch and the pressure is mounting on Erik ten Hag as a result.
However, Ten Hag shouldn’t worry about job safety if Ratcliffe has any say in the matter, because reports suggest the British billionaire has faith in the Dutchman.
A deep audit of the club’s football operation is in the pipeline which means Richard Arnold, John Murtough and others face uncertain futures. Ratcliffe will want his own people in charge – not a bunch of Glazer puppets he cannot trust.
According to i, Ratcliffe is ‘planning to reduce’ Ten Hag’s influence in the club’s transfer strategy, leaving him to coach.
This comes after a report (via Daily Mail) in September, United staff are concerned about the growing influence of Sports Entertainment Group (SEG), the Dutch agency that represents Ten Hag. It was suggested that SEG have become the “go-to agency in negotiating player signings and sales for United, as well as providing informal advice on the transfer market.”
SEG were responsible for deals including not just Ten Hag but Tyrell Malacia, Zidane Iqbal, Rasmus Hojlund and Sofyan Amrabat.
United need a proper sporting director because this wouldn’t be such a glaring issue if there was one. Furthermore, Ratcliffe’s demand should come as no surprise.
It will be interesting to see how SEG founder Kees Vos reacts to having his nose put out of joint by Ratcliffe. Ten Hag will need a proper support network around him and we’ve every reason to believe Ratcliffe will try to implement that with the experts he has in mind to assist him on football operations at Old Trafford.
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