Man Utd takeover: Ratcliffe funds winter ‘blitz’ as Ten Hag eyes £115m signing to ‘resurrect’ Red Devils
According to reports, Manchester United bidder Sir Jim Ratcliffe ‘is set to hand any money raised by January sales to manager Erik ten Hag’.
The INEOS chief is on the brink of purchasing a 25% stake in the Red Devils as it is understood that confirmation is a matter of days away.
Ratcliffe will purchase a minority stake for around £1.4bn but he will take control of footballing matters at Man Utd right away and the reshuffle behind the scenes is already underway.
Chief executive Richard Arnold’s exit has been confirmed ahead of January and it is only a matter of time before director of football John Murtough follows him in leaving.
Ten Hag will no doubt be hoping to be given funds for signings in January as Man Utd – who are fourth in the 2023 Premier League net spend table – attempt to recover from a poor start to the 2023/24 campaign.
But Football Insider are of the understanding that ‘Financial Fair Play rules will restrict Ratcliffe’s ability to pump money into the Old Trafford side following another summer of lavish spending’ but Ten Hag will be ‘handed money from any sales’.
Jadon Sancho – who was valued at around £45m in the summer – is one player expected to move on in January but he is more likely to leave Man Utd on loan.
Man Utd needs to strengthen in various positions, but their priority perhaps should be to sign a striker who could support Rasmus Hojlund.
It has recently been reported that Ten Hag has ‘chosen’ £115m-rated Evan Ferguson to ‘resurrect’ Man Utd following his impressive emergence at Brighton.
Despite this, Fabrizio Romano believes Ferguson is unlikely to leave Brighton during the upcoming January transfer window.
“Evan Ferguson is another top young talent who inevitably attracts links with big clubs, but from what I’m told he extended his contract at Brighton because he’s very happy there, so we have to be respectful to Brighton,” Romano told Caught Offside.
“Ferguson believes that Brighton is the perfect place for him to develop, so I’m not even sure we’ll see him move in summer 2024, maybe later in the future. He’s very happy at Brighton.
“Sometimes in the transfer window crazy things can happen – Moises Caicedo, for example, left Brighton for huge money, so if they receive crazy proposals then maybe the situation could change, but for the moment they are very happy with him and they believe they can maybe sell him in two years for huge money, so I’d say the situation is more open for the future, rather than for the next year or so.”
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