UEFA's rules give Man United transfer headache Sir Jim Ratcliffe could do without

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is eager to get business done at Manchester United this summer after an underwhelming 2023/24 season.

However, a number of factors have contributed to a slow start to the transfer window. Firstly, there was the 'small' matter of deciding who the manager of United would be heading into next season.

The decision to keep Erik ten Hag was more prolonged than it needed to be but that has since been resolved. Thanks to the delay in deciding to keep Ten Hag, United now find themselves in the midst of both Euro 2024 and Copa America.

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Plenty of potential targets are representing their national teams at these tournaments meaning there is just a small pool of players who are available to discuss terms with. One of those players would be Nice's Jean-Clair Todibo.

The Frenchman has not travelled with his country to Euro 2024 and is a player whom United hold an interest in prior to Ratcliffe purchasing the club. At present though, the Reds cannot make their interest formal due to UEFA's multi-club ownership rules.

Ratcliffe and Ineos are not only minority stakeholders in United but also the majority owners of Nice. We have previously seen clubs owned by the same organisation complete transfers between themselves on a semi-regular basis.

However, where the issue lies in this instance is that United and Nice find themselves in direct competition with each other next season. Both teams have qualified for the Europa League and European football's governing body believes that if Nice were to sell the defender to United, it would breach their multi-club ownership rules as it could be seen as Ratcliffe trying to unfairly strengthen the Reds and weaken Nice so that they have a better chance of winning the competition.

Ratcliffe has already stressed that he believes these rules are 'unfair' on the player and there has been some talk of Ineos challenging UEFA's interpretation of the rules. Either way, it is yet another headache that United can do without this summer.