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The beginning of the end for the Glazers or a consolidation of their hold on Manchester United? It is the key question surrounding Sir Jim Ratcliffe's acquisition of a £1.3 billion (25%) stake in the club, and the answer to the question may take years to resolve. For now, the main issue being addressed is shutting down fan activists' "complete sale now" demand for the 11 months since the Florida family began "a process to explore strategic alternatives."
Was a full sale ever realistic? That depends on your trust in Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani. When the Qatari billionaire pulled out in October, more details about his thwarted plans for the club were revealed in Jim Bowen fashion than during his courtship. Complaints about 'a fanciful and bizarre valuation' figured prominently in what became an admission that Ratcliffe had 'won' the trial. What followed from sources was the suggestion that taking a minority stake was his first step towards overall control, with the final price determined by the success of the partnership in the coming years.
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Some United fans will never forgive Ratcliffe for allying with the Glazers, but again, realism plays a part. How else was a deal going to get done? Ratcliffe's reputation in the business world is that of a get-it-done person, a determined, innovative negotiator. A minority stake can have significant power, as United fans may remember from the club's PLC days two decades ago, when Ireland's Cubic Expression consortium and the Glazers themselves caused considerable controversy.
Ratcliffe will not be a godmother, boundlessly benevolent like Sheikh Mansour or Roman Abramovich, but United has always washed its own face as a company until the current economic tailwinds, high inflation and higher interest rates started pushing debt levels to almost £1 billion. What former chief executive Ed Woodward once likened to 'selling diamonds' has never needed state-linked ownership of the kind now going out of fashion, with financial constraints on Newcastle's Saudi consortium far tighter than during Manchester's excesses City and in light of the cuts in Qatar. at Paris Saint Germain.
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Ratcliffe and his Ineos team assume there is sports control, which suggests some form of executive power. If the Glazers resent using the club as their cash machine while never paying off the debts imposed on the club by late patriarch Malcolm in 2005, it is United's sporting failure that most curses their rule. That the Glazers have approved a £1.5 billion spend on players since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson is used as a mitigating factor by a dwindling number of advocates, but an accepted truth about their stewardship is that the club is seriously suffering from a lack of direction and expertise.
It has long been a truism that even the sharpest business minds can be confused by football's boardroom. Mike Ashley and Lord Alan Sugar were shrewd entrepreneurs who were much admired in the retail industry, but made the mistake of running their football clubs, Newcastle and Tottenham, like their other businesses. Both left football with a profit, but had won few friends. Adding up amounts is not a way to become popular. Both entered football without experience, while Ratcliffe, in relation to Ashley and Sugar, is several times richer financially and has earlier, if not undoubted, success in the sporting field.
Critics say that his cycling team Team Ineos-Grenadiers is not nearly as all-conquering as the Team Sky he renamed, and that Sir Ben Ainslie has never won the America's Cup under the sails of Ineos. The fortunes of FC Lausanne in Switzerland and Nice in France are chosen, although the latter's second place in Ligue 1 is promising. There are those who distrust the "marginal profits" of chief adviser Sir Dave Brailsford, but Ineos managing the sporting side while the Glazers look after the business side has faint echoes of the Glazers' early years when Ferguson was backed by David Gill on United's football side. and Woodward ran the commercial side. Repeating the successes of that era is the end game, even if it is a distant dream.
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Ratcliffe's previous move to a club, Chelsea, in 2022 saw him bypass the sale process of Raine, the same group that operated for the Glazers, only to withdraw almost as quickly. Any more suspicions of opportunism against the self-proclaimed Failsworth-born 'top red'? A few Chelsea fans may now be wondering how his regime would have compared to that of the winning bid led by Todd Boehly.
Within United itself, as the bidding process has progressed, there has been a wounded defense against criticism. Last season's successes are being celebrated while the team is already falling behind this season's goals. The treatment of Mason Greenwood and the subsequent allegations against Antony (and denied) have made unwanted headlines. Richard Arnold, the CEO who had a more open door policy than his predecessor Woodward, came under heavy criticism and left before the new structure was officially in effect. The arrival of Ratcliffe, not one to sit in the background and reportedly critical of operations during initial exploratory meetings, puts the future of the club's entire top flight in doubt. His confidence in Erik ten Hag was said to be firmer than that of many other United supporters, although that may have changed in recent weeks. John Murtough, an unassuming, low-energy football director, is most likely on the casualty list.
Ratcliffe's 25% stake raises many such questions, including the division between the Glazer siblings: who wants to cash out, who wants to stay? - the now onerous debts, a complicated 'A' and 'B' capital structure and an outdated stadium with a leaking roof. Even a self-made man worth almost £30 billion can't cure all ills, but perhaps his fresh approach can ease the damp air at Old Trafford. The only credible alternative outcome after so many months of wrangling turned out to be the gloom of the Glazers retaining complete control.