Sir Jim Ratcliffe won't want 'dumb money' Manchester United problem as Erik ten Hag decision looms

Having completed the purchase of his minority stake in Manchester United back in January, Sir Jim Ratcliffe appears to be on something of a mission to clean house at Old Trafford.

The British billionaire founder of global petrochemical giant INEOS acquired oversight over footballing and strategic matters at United with his £1.2bn deal, which while saw the deeply unpopular Glazer family hold on to power, at least brought about a change in direction.

A new CEO in Omar Berrada, and a soon-to-be new sporting director in Dan Ashworth, a role that has been so negligently overlooked by United in recent years, have been strides taken forward. He has also been forthright in his desire to see a ‘Wembley of the North’ created where Old Trafford stands, addressing a need that has also been woefully ignored by the Glazers.

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Ratcliffe has also sought to make an impression in terms of both standards and financial profligacy at the club, with various reports claiming things from the 71-year-old being unhappy with the tidiness of the club’s facilities at Old Trafford and Carrington, to cutting down on FA Cup final perks for staff, as well as threatening to cancel Christmas parties if the unacceptable standards continue.

In terms of unacceptable standards, Manchester United’s chastening 4-0 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace on Monday piled yet more pressure on boss Erik ten Hag, with United now at risk of missing out on any kind of European football next season despite a wage bill and transfer spend that should have delivered far more than it has.

The Dutchman’s future has been the subject of much scrutiny for some time, but despite a bruising campaign he remains in situ for now, while there has also been rumoured interest in his services being wanted by German giants Bayern Munich as they look to next season without Thomas Tuchel, and focus on wrestling back the Bundesliga title from Bayer Leverkusen.

Sky Sports claimed that Bayern had ‘touched base’ with Ten Hag’s agent, Kees Vos, to see whether there was any interest in him becoming Tuchel’s successor.

The hope of Champions League football was gone some time ago for United, and treading water until the end of the season and re-evaluating is likely the preferred course of action, especially if there is the potential that a club could come in and take a manager away who the club would be willing to part with, avoiding a costly settlement of more than £10m in the process.

Ratcliffe’s own previous comments about spending leave some clues as to the football approach, both on and off the field.

Speaking in 2019, Ratcliffe said: “(INEOS) never wants to be the dumb money in town, never, never. They [United] are in quite a big pickle as a business.

“They haven't got the manager selection right (Ole Gunnar Solskjaer), haven't bought well. They have been the dumb money, which you see with players like Fred."

Given the cost-cutting exercises that have already been brought about at Old Trafford for such small things as FA Cup final ticket perks for staff, Ratcliffe is unlikely to be happy seeing United flush more cash if it doesn’t need to, especially given that profit and sustainability rules continue to hang over a number of Premier League clubs when it comes to allowable spending in this summer’s transfer window.

There is also the possibility that Ten Hag’s contract could have reduced settlement figures that were agreed when joining the club should certain key goals be missed out on.

It is likely that the lack of a suitable successor to Ten Hag is what is putting things on hold right now. To pay money to sack a manager with two games remaining and go into a key period without having been able to find a suitable successor means that it will likely be a case of rinse and repeat in terms of a lack of strategy impeding progress at Old Trafford. After the season culminates there could be more compelling candidates to choose from, and with a little more time to decide on the right person to take the club forward.

With several things in play, such as Ten Hag’s Bayern interest, the potential details of his contract, the timing being so close to the end of the season anyway, and a lack of viable options to replace him, maybe sacking him now does seem like it would be the ‘dumb money’ that Ratcliffe has previously spoken of.

The question now will be whether or not that ‘dumb money’ would be showing too much faith in a manager into another transfer window. It is a call that Ratcliffe and his newly-assembled team will have to get right if they are to change the course of United’s fortunes for next season.