OGC Nice manager Francesco Farioli has revealed what it is like to work under Sir Jim Ratcliffe amid his impending investment in Manchester United.
The British billionaire, who is a boyhood United supporter, is set to acquire 25% of the club. There are suggestions that a deal with the Glazer family could be announced this week.
Richard Arnold’s exit from Old Trafford as chief executive could tell us something about how Ratcliffe wants to operate at United because they don’t seem to be wasting any time when it comes to making significant changes.
Ineos are set to take control of football operations at United, which means key personnel could arrive in the coming months to shake up the structure within the club. They already own Ligue 1 outfit Nice who are enjoying an impressive season and remain unbeaten.
Nice’s success this season has partly been down to 34-year-old manager Farioli.
The Italian, who previously worked at Alanyaspor, was a surprise appointment but it’s been clear to see Nice’s development under his guidance.
Farioli has spoken positively about working with Ineos thus far, and it may be something Erik ten Hag should take note of moving forward.
“I like to listen to the feedback I receive because it’s good to have different perspectives and different input,” Farioli told The Telegraph, addressing the day-to-day involvement Ratcliffe and INEOS have. “Afterwards, I have freedom in the decisions on the pitch.
“In other things, a bit more for the medium and long term, there is always an open door. We share our opinions and we have periodic, day-by-day or weekly conversations. But also with the club, we have a monthly review of everything with all the parts involved – about the strategy, about the present and also about the future.
“The ambitions of the club are already quite big with the desire to bring the team back in Europe and to be constantly in the European competition. This is the target, to dream big.”
On the process of Farioli’s appointment at Nice, he added: “They made an analysis with data and from the filter appeared some of the names, and I was one of the names. If I’m not wrong, it was in January or if not before.
“At the end of the season, when they changed coach, I had my first interview with the sporting director Florent Ghisolfi and Dave (Brailsford, director of sport at INEOS). It was quite a long interview, like five hours or something.
“It was a really good introduction and the day after, I had an interview with Jean-Claude Blanc (chief executive of INEOS Sport). I had one more meeting with Florent, the CEO and the president of Nice.
“A lot of meetings and a lot of hours, but I felt very happy because they gave me the opportunity to express myself. They were very, very prepared about everything and they were really aware of who they had in front of them.”
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