Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has delivered a brutal assessment of five players he believes the club have overpaid for in a bombshell interview discussing the state of the Premier League giants. The INEOS chairman has been in power at Old Trafford for a little over a year, but has overseen a stark decline from the 20-time English champions, who currently sit 14th in the table.
While performance on the pitch fails to deceive, off it, Ratcliffe has implemented some incredibly unpopular decisions, including mass redundancies and the cutting back on hot meals for those who remain at the club outside of the first-team squad. When challenged on the state United find themselves in financially, the billionaire was quick to point to poor recruitment from before his arrival, and named the five players that the Red Devils were still paying the price for bringing in.
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Three other stars were also pinpointed by the co-owner
Speaking to the BBC, Ratcliffe stated that United were still dealing with the aftermath of signings made before his arrival that are continuing to cost the club money. Specifically, the 72-year-old named and shamed Casemiro, Andre Onana, Rasmus Hojlund, Antony, and Jadon Sancho as stars who were not worth the cash that was splashed on them.
Explaining how these decisions from the past are haunting the club's finances to this day, Ratcliffe explained:
"If you look at the players we are buying this summer, that we didn't buy, we're buying Antony, we're buying Casemiro, we're buying Onana, we're buying Hojlund, we're buying Sancho. These are all things from the past, whether we like it or not, we've inherited those things and have to sort that out.
"For Sancho, who now plays for Chelsea and we pay half his wages, we're paying £17m to buy him in the summer. Some are not good enough and some probably are overpaid. But for us to mould the squad that we are fully responsible for, and accountable for, will take time."
What Ratcliffe is referring to is the fact that the Red Devils still have to pay instalments for the aforementioned players they signed, even if they are no longer contracted to the club. In fact, in a separate discussion with Gary Neville on The Overlap, the businessman revealed that before United can spend any money on recruitment in the next transfer window, they will have already had to hand over £89 million towards fees for players that have already joined the club.
However, despite claiming that without cost-cutting measures the club would run out of money by the end of the year, Ratcliffe shot down suggestions that United would be forced to sell academy stars to comply with financial regulations. This comes after it was claimed that there was a willingness to cash in on Kobbie Mainoo, who has reportedly turned down a new contract, in order to help stay within PSR limits.
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He highlighted one issue key as 'not good enough'.
"No no. We won't be selling players because of the state we are in financially," Ratcliffe confirmed. "The club had got bloated so we reduced that and will finish it with a lean and efficient organisation. That's how we will address the costs. The player decisions will all be focused on how we are going to improve performance. That's all."