The Glazers are hanging in there, but new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is bringing much-needed optimism to Old Trafford by taking control of football affairs. With a thirteen-month sales saga finally at an end, Telegraph Sport details the key players in Manchester United's next act:
The main characters
Sir Jim Ratcliffe - co-owner who takes control of sporting affairs
Finally, Britain's most ambitious sports investor has a shot at the prize he most coveted. Having previously been burned trying to buy a Premier League giant, Ratcliffe played the long game, and this time a cute one. No one appeared willing to match the Glazers' £6 billion valuation, so Ratcliffe amended his offer over the summer, agreeing to buy 25 percent instead, on the condition he took sporting control. United will be the jewel in a sporting crown for a figure who led a sporting land grab for more than five years.
For the first twenty years of its existence, no one except business junkies had really heard of the chemical multinational Ineos, let alone the man who owned the company. But Ratcliffe's profile has soared with acquisitions including Sir Ben Ainslie's America's Cup team, Team Sky, Ligue 1 Nice, Eliud Kipchoge's sub-two-hour marathon challenge, the All Blacks investment and a stake in Mercedes F1.
The son of a carpenter and an office worker who grew up on a council estate in Failsworth, Greater Manchester - hence his lifelong support of United - Ratcliffe is a proud, unapologetic industrialist and engineer. This is a man who stood up to the unions in Grangemouth and had little time for environmental campaigners in Yorkshire in 2019 when they protested against his attempts to drill at a number of sites in the county.
His tough background in deal-making has equipped Ratcliffe well for his thirteen-month saga with the Glazers. By the summer, he realized that the only realistic way to land a deal was to form a partnership. But in return for agreeing to a reduced 25 per cent deal worth £1.24 billion, Ratcliffe will have full control of the football
The story continues
Sir David Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc - new football board members
Ratcliffe must turn to the top two figures in his sporting empire as he plots how to transform United. The two key figures at Ineos are expected to take over management roles on the football side as part of a major overhaul of operations that will gain momentum by the summer.
Brailsford is the man who introduced "marginal profits" to British Cycling, but has overseen Ineos Sport since 2021 and has already been spotted in Carrington on fact-finding missions.
Ratcliffe's confidence in Brailsford has helped the performance specialist return to the top after a controversial period that saw integrity questions raised for British Cycling during his golden era in charge. Brailsford's philosophy at Ineos is to share best practice between different sports to achieve top performance. "Take nutrition," he said during the Tour de France in the summer. "You can learn the best lessons from that and transfer them to football or to the sailing team."
Jean Claude Blanc, the CEO of Ineos Sport, is a more recent addition; his arrival last December coincided with a sharp upturn in fortunes for Nice in Ligue 1. Although Brailsford's pedigree extends to other sports, Blanc is an experienced football executive, having been a former marketing manager of Paris Saint-Germain and a former CEO of Juventus.
John Reece and Rob Nevin - new board members of the company
Reece is Ratcliffe's main money man as finance director at Ineos. Reece joined the chemical conglomerate in 2000, less than two years after its founding, and has played a key role in the company's enormous success. He helped lead Ineos' 2021 $5 billion takeover of two BP chemicals companies.
Reece makes his fortune from his minority stake in Ineos and is worth £6 billion, according to Forbes. Nevin is now chairman of Ineos Sport and was part of the group, along with Brailsford and Claude Blanc, who visited Old Trafford in March. He was previously business director and CEO of Ineos Nitriles.
Nevin had 40 years of commercial experience in the petrochemical sector. He joined BP in 1981 as a graduate engineer and has spent more than half of his career in manufacturing at various BP sites.
Joel Glazer - Executive Co-Chairman and Owner
The Glazers' frontline roles are no more as the new Ratcliffe era marks the start of a more harmonious relationship with the club's fanbase. While other siblings fade into the background like sleeping partners, 56-year-old Joel probably wants to be closest to operational matters, albeit on a more marginalized basis.
Ratcliffe may find Joel a more involved point of contact than Avram. He is much more loved by some as he is seen as the most dedicated of all the siblings at United, having previously taken charge of sanctioning big-player deals.
Joel dictates club business from his office in Washington DC and is a regular at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but never at Old Trafford. Promised efforts to increase dialogue between fans since the collapse of the Super League plot have also been half-hearted.
"We also realize that we need to communicate better with you, our fans, because you will always be at the heart of the club," he wrote in 2021 during the height of supporter anger.
Supporting roles
The Glazers
Since the siblings inherited their sporting empire from father Malcolm, Avram has generally stood shoulder to shoulder with Joel at United. Both will be richly rewarded as they fade into the background, with Kevin, Bryan, Edward and Darcie also counting their wins. The Glazers, who will now largely take a backseat role at the club, are expected to pocket around £650 million from the sale of Class B shares.
The executive team
The departure of Richard Arnold as CEO, replaced on an interim basis by United's general counsel Patrick Stewart, was a show of intent from Ratcliffe weeks before the deal was announced. Blanc and Brailsford will now have the most day-to-day influence in the new structure, but it remains to be seen whether a new long-term CEO will be appointed.
Sporting directors
John Murtough expects to play a role in the transition period, despite the uncertainty surrounding his position as director of football. Telegraph Sport has reported how Crystal Palace's Dougie Freedman, former Tottenham recruitment chief Paul Mitchell, Atalanta's Lee Congerton, former AC Milan duo Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara and Atlético Madrid's Andrea Berta are all in line for a role at the club .
Coaches and players
United have spent more than £400m under Erik ten Hag with mixed results, but Ratcliffe has ruled out making any hasty decisions as the January window ends while the Premier League is still assessing his credentials. Ten Hag has the support of Ineos for the short term. Resolving the future of England winger Jadon Sancho, who has been banned since early September after a falling out with Ten Hag, will also quickly become a priority.
Deal makers and breakers
Colin Neville and his New York-based colleagues at Raine will walk away with millions for brokering the deal, but the test by Premier League directors and owners is likely to last at least another month to assess Ratcliffe's eligibility comes as an investor in the Premier League. With Nice riding high, a board restructuring at the French club may also be necessary to ensure Ineos can comply with UEFA multi-club ownership rules for Europe next season.
