Yahoo News Sir Jim Ratcliffe issues huge warning to Man City and makes biggest Man United problem clear
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has opened up on his desire to stop Manchester City's dominance, his biggest issue with football and plans to build a new stadium.
The INEOS chief purchased a 27.7 per cent stake in United earlier this year and his impact since joining has already been clearly felt. Omar Berrada was appointed CEO with Jason Wilcox and Dan Ashworth set to form part of United's new technical operations team.
The 2023/24 season has been another mixed campaign for United but they will hope to end it with a trophy as they vie for a spot in the FA Cup final against Manchester City. To get there though, United will have to beat Championship side Coventry City at Wembley in the semi-finals.
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With the showpiece clash to be played in the capital, numerous fans have travelled down from Manchester and the Midlands to take in the action, however they won't be the only visitors in the capital. The 2024 London Marathon has also taken place today and Ratcliffe was one of the thousands running the 26.2 mile race.
After finishing the marathon, Ratcliffe was interviewed live on BBC Sport where he delved into a number of topics which included firing a clear warning to Man City. "We'd definitely be the underdogs [if we reached FA Cup final against Man City], unfortunately, not for long though."
When asked about the comparisons between running a marathon and running Man United, he said: "There are some parallels. It just requires some grit. In the marathon after the 30k it gets quite difficult and I don't think we're quite at 30k in the football at the minute. We're not even [at a half marathon] yet either. We're probably at 10k."
One of the biggest problems in football is getting these new guys to come into the team but they're all on gardening leave, so it takes you 6, 12 or even 18 months before they come in. It's a real issue in football. To make a change you need to bring new people in."
"They can't work for us and the fans are impatient and I knew that but it's a journey and people, whether they like it or not, have to be patient. It's not a sprint we can't just turn it around like that but I'm sure we will."
On plans to build a new stadium, he added: "I'd love to do that. I think that would be fantastic for the north of England. That whole area of southern Manchester, it's where the industrial revolution began and that's why they built Old Trafford because the workers would finish their shift and walk to the ground.
"So it was where industry and manufacturing began, so it is a really important area but it is run down. So to regenerate that area and build a Wembley of the north, I think would be a marvellous project."
