What UEFA rules mean for Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Manchester United and OGC Nice

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, the billionaire Monegasque resident explained some of the challenges he has faced since becoming Manchester United co-owner six months ago, including not being able to sign who he wants this summer…

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Sir Jim Ratcliffe spoke of a childhood dream come true when the deal was clinched. Today it’s been just over six months since the takeover soap opera played out. He has since had time to take stock of the situation at the club.

The story so far

We first reported rumours of the INEOS chairman’s intention to buy Manchester United in August 2022. The official offer by Sir Jim and INEOS was submitted in February 2023. A bidding war ensued, with the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Jassim Bin Hamad J.J. Al Thani, as the Monegasque resident’s main rival.

After 10 months of negotiations, Ratcliffe put his foot down, demanding a final decision before Christmas 2023 or he would take the INEOS debt-free offer off the table. The deal was agreed on 24 December. Formal approval was obtained from the relevant authorities in February this year.

And today? Room for improvement

Having achieved a 28% stake after the long takeover battle, Ratcliffe’s objective is to turn around the fortunes of the once-great Manchester United, who last won the Premier League in 2013.

“There’s room for improvement everywhere we look at Manchester United, and we will improve everything,” Ratcliffe told Bloomberg, “but it’ll take time.” He observed that currently: “We’ve got more accountants than we’ve got sporting people.”

Since he took over the club’s football operations, the highly successful businessman has taken a hard look at costs, canceling corporate credit cards for senior executives as one of his early measures. The Guardian reports a July 5 announcement that 250 jobs will be cut at Manchester United, with estimated savings of £10m a year, as part of the drive to restructure the club and make it sustainable.

After a long silverware shortage, Manchester United won both of this year’s FA Cups. The perhaps surprising victory by the men’s team against derby rival Manchester City was welcome, while the women’s team beat Tottenham despite poor league form. Since then, however, the narrative has been decidedly off-field, with negative press coverage about the head coach, leading players, and the state of the stadium.

Sir Jim’s model is Real Madrid. Since Manchester United last raised the Champions League trophy, in 2008, the Spanish team has won it six times. It recently revamped its iconic Santiago Bernabeu stadium, and has acquired key players including Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham.

But new regulations on player spending limits have hampered Ratcliffe’s ability to buy success in the Premier League so far. The summer transfer window will be interesting as any player purchases will need to be balanced by some departures. There is interest in signing Jarrad Branthwaite from Everton, despite a first bid falling through, and Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern Munich.

The Guardian believes Victor Lindelöf and Harry Maguire may have to leave in order for those deals to be financed. Meanwhile, head coach Ten Hag’s contract has been renewed until 2026. As the Manchester daily puts it, “Despite the transparent consideration given to replacing the manager, Ten Hag and Ratcliffe’s leadership team recognise the need for unity if United are to be successful.”

Regulators

The authorities are looking ever more closely at who owns clubs, how they are financed and how the Premier League is governed. Multi-club ownership is in UEFA’s crosshairs. Manchester United and OGC Nice were both cleared to play in the Europa League next season, but only because Sir Jim Ratcliffe has agreed to put the French club into a blind trust, since one owner can’t have control over two clubs in the same competition without some restrictions, and Bloomberg reports he has no intention of selling Nice.

Meanwhile, UEFA put paid to plans for Nice’s Todibo to join the Mancunian club this year. “They’ve said we can sell him to another Premiership club, but we can’t sell to Manchester United,” Ratcliffe said. “But that’s not fair on the player and I don’t see what that achieves.”

Bloomberg mentions planned legislation in the UK that would seek to establish checks and balances on how clubs are managed. The aim is to protect both the clubs’ financial stability and the fans. Any new rules would be in addition to existing Premier League and UEFA regulations on player transfer and wage limits.

“If you’ve got a government regulator at the end of the day they will regulate and that won’t be good,” said Ratcliffe. He also disagrees with “anchoring,” set to be tested next season, which indexes spending to a factor of the lower clubs’ revenues. “It would inhibit the top clubs in the Premiership. The last thing you want in the Premiership is for the top clubs in the Premiership not to be able to compete with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and PSG.”

His advice to the Premier League on trying out even more rules: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Nice as a conduit?

Sir Jim’s intention to keep the club sounds like good news for Nice fans. However Ratcliffe raised the prospect of the GYM effectively becoming a feeder club of sorts for United.

He said Nice could take advantage of France’s position within the European Union to sign promising under-18 players from overseas, something Manchester United can no longer do: “Because of Brexit it’s quite difficult now to contract the younger generational talents in Europe, but Nice could do that. If it’s a fantastic 15-year-old in France we can sign him up to Nice and use Nice as a conduit to Manchester United later on,” he said.

Which, you may remember, is the situation some OGC Nice fans feared since the Manchester United takeover by Ratcliffe was first mooted…

Sir Jim recently told The Times that the purchase of a stake in Manchester United is a “labour of love” rather than a money-maker. However, the highly successful entrepreneur will no doubt be hoping that his love is requited in the form of success on the pitch.