Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made it clear he’d like to see the club identify and sign a player who can be the next Jude Bellingham or Kylian Mbappe. The British billionaire has set out a plan for the Reds to avoid spending large amounts of money on a small group of ‘great players’.
Rather than going into the transfer market and breaking records for transfer fees, Sir Jim Ratcliffe thinks United have a duty to find the next gem(s), which is fitting for a football institution that has always put faith in young players.
This is the biggest hint yet that United want to build a successful team with young players, so what better time to build a team around the likes of Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho? The two academy graduates would get into most teams across the world.
However, Mbappe is one of the biggest names in world football at the moment after a great career at Paris Saint-Germain, but the Frenchman’s time in Paris appears to be coming to an end with a move to Real Madrid expected to materialise in the summer.
Ratcliffe has confirmed that United won’t be trying to hijack Madrid’s apparent plans to sign Mbappe. Instead, he wants the club to identify top young talents who can go on to become big names like the former AS Monaco academy graduate.
Appearing as a guest on Geraint Thomas’ Cycling Club podcast, Ratcliffe was asked whether he would try to sign Bellingham.
Ratcliffe replied, as quoted by the Irish Independent: “He is a great footballer. It’s not where our focus is, the solution isn’t spending a lot of money on a couple of great player.
“They have done that, if you look at the last 10 years, they have spent a lot of money on a couple of great players.
“The first thing we need to do is get the right people in the right boxes who are managing and organising the club.
“And make sure we get recruitment right, it is such a vital part of football today.”
I think this should be United’s approach moving forward as we’ve seen in the past that buying big-name stars doesn’t guarantee success. The focus should be on building a successful team for the long-term future.
Later in the podcast Ratcliffe was given a choice of signing Mbappe for United or cyclist Tadej Pogacar for his Ineos team and he said: “I would rather sign the next Mbappe rather than spend a fortune buying success.
“It’s not that clever buying Mbappe. Anyone could figure that one out. More challenging is to find the next Mbappe or next Bellingham or next Roy Keane.”
Manchester United to sign Mbappé or INEOS to sign Pogačar 👀
Listen to the full interview with Sir Jim Ratcliffe by searching "Geraint Thomas Cycling Club" in your podcast app 🎙 pic.twitter.com/Rwf4i4dlWn
— Geraint Thomas Cycling Club (@GTCyclingClub) March 19, 2024
There has been so many failed superstar signings in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, and our recruitment team for years has been the subject of warranted criticism. Just cast your mind back to the excitement that came with signings like Paul Pogba, Angel Di Maria, Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez. All flopped.
We don’t know who the next Bellingham or Mbappe is, but finding that player will be a job for our new sporting director Dan Ashworth, when he is allowed to officially join the club.
Identifying the best young players in the world will be top of the club’s list. We’ve already got two in Garnacho and Mainoo.
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