Former Nice manager gives Man Utd fans positive news on Ratcliffe transfer funds
Former Nice manager Adrian Ursea has shed some light on the way incoming Manchester United investor Jim Ratcliffe conducts himself behind the scenes.
British billionaire Ratcliffe is waiting for his deal to buy 25 per cent of the Red Devils to be ratified with journalist Ben Jacobs claiming there is hope that the deal will be confirmed next week.
“Understand Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s 25% stake in #MUFC will not be announced today,” Jacobs revealed on Friday.
“The hope remains it will be confirmed early next week, and before Thanksgiving, with an announcement this week always termed ‘feasible but optimistic’ by sources.”
There had been hopes that Ratcliffe would be able to buy a controlling stake in the club with the Man Utd supporters regularly protesting the Glazers’ ownership of the club.
That won’t happen for now but it is understood that Ratcliffe will be able to take control of football operations with the INEOS owner ready to completely overhaul that department.
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And former Nice boss Ursea – who was also assistant manager under Patrick Vieira – has revealed how owner Ratcliffe conducts his business at the French club.
“The biggest difference was the club became certain there would no longer be problems with money,” Ursea told the Daily Mirror. “The first time I was there there were huge financial problems but once INEOS arrived – they went. I saw Jim sometimes but he only visited training sessions once or twice – not more.
“We never felt the pressure about Jim because in this period I saw much more of his brother Bob. I only saw Jim three or four times overall. It was clear that the big boss of the first team during that situation was our director of football, Julien Fournier.”
Many Man Utd fans will be hoping that Ratcliffe will bring with him a boosted transfer budget and Ursea reckons there’s a possibility they could be in luck.
“After I left, INEOS began spending more money on transfers,” Ursea added. “They spent around €60million (£52m) in the market. Before, the club wouldn’t permit a transfer that cost more than €5m (£4.3m) or €6m (£5.2m).
“Then Nice started to have the power to spend up to €15m (£13.1m) on players because with INEOS the money was there. It was very important to save the situation – relegation would have been a catastrophe for the club.
“Maybe INEOS would have left, I honestly don’t know. I’m very proud that we saved the situation with our players, staff and president because it was a really, really, difficult period.”
