Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s frustrations over one of Manchester United’s biggest problems could now be on the mend for Ineos due to six all-important figures being in place.
The 73-year-old Ineos chief has vowed to restore Manchester United’s prestige and status in world football after he became co-owner of the Premier League club.
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United have struggled in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era at Old Trafford and the Red Devils have been unable to reassert their dominance over English football.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe had his Ineos team take control of football operations at the Premier League club after his minority stake purchase was formally completed in 2024.
The United co-owner has seen a major shake-up to the Red Devils’ behind-the-scenes hierarchy, including the appointments of Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada.
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Travis Binnion reveals Man Utd figures are doing what Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos want to see
Travis Binnion has been working behind the scenes at Old Trafford as a key figure with the Manchester United youth academy and is the Under-21s head coach.
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The 39-year-old is one of the all-important cogs in the United machine that Ineos want in full operation at the Premier League club as part of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s vision.
Travis Binnion appeared on the Inside Carrington podcast and opened up on the dynamic of elevating youngsters from the academy into the United first team.
The United Under-21s manager said that there are “multiple” figures involved in the process, including director of football Jason Wilcox and United boss Ruben Amorim.
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Binnion added that academy director Steve Torpey, assistant manager Carlos Fernandes and Under-21s boss Darren Fletcher are all part of the process as well.
“It’s always sort of two-way conversations,” he said, as per Manchester United’s official website.
“But, with multiple stakeholders, not loads of people. Myself, Stephen Torpey, Jason Wilcox, Carlos, Ruben and then, obviously, Fletch.
“My conversations with him are massive around, not just the Under-18s group, but the Under-21s group. So his insight and perspective, with Colin Little, is huge, so it really is a collaborative [thing].
“I know that’s a really in-trend word to use, but it is because, if it’s not collaborative, then we are going to let the players down and we’re not going to get it right for the first team, if we’re not all aligned, with the players that we see needing those opportunities, whether it be first-team training or whether it be playing games.”
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos can now address the heart of a major Man Utd issue in his eyes
Steve Torpey arrived at United back in the summer and replaced Nick Cox as academy director, with the Red Devils youth set-up a key part of Ratcliffe’s plans.
United’s history with the academy has been a long-standing tradition for the club and Sir Alex Ferguson enjoyed the fruits of the youth set-up during his legendary reign.
Despite the success of United’s beloved ‘Class of ’92,’ the Red Devils struggled to secure the same kind of talent pool from the academy in the post-Ferguson era.
Do you agree with Ineos’ recruitment model of signing wonderkids?
Jason Wilcox, Omar Berrada and Sir Jim Ratcliffe in stands.
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Ratcliffe already expressed his dissatisfaction not too long ago over United failing to pump out academy talent in an efficient way like rival clubs have done.
“The academy has really slipped at Manchester United,” he said on The Times’ ‘The Business’ podcast in October.
“You need the academy to be producing talent all the time. It helps you financially.
“That’s not a light switch. You don’t solve the academy problem overnight. It takes time. We just recruited a new academy director [Torpey].”
The dynamic between Steve Torpey, Travis Binnion, Wilcox, Ruben Amorim, Carlos Fernandes and Darren Fletcher could finally fix Ratcliffe’s major concern at long last.
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