Formula One, rugby, running, Swiss football, French Ligue 1 and now, the biggest club in the most competitive league in the world - Manchester United are now co-owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS group with complete sporting matters in their control.
Although it translates to a 25% stake in the club, this comprises a combination of Class A shares traded on the NYSE and some Class B shares from the Glazer family. However, the two most important aspects of this deal are access to sporting control and a fresh investment of £239m into the club, the first external injection of cash into the club in close to 19 years under the Glazers.
Investments, a breath of fresh air after years of protests against the Glazers' regime, all things said and done, but what does this change in ownership mean for Manchester United as a football club and their bid to become a dominant force in world football that they once were with Sir Alex Ferguson at the helm more than a decade ago.
Structure
To those who have closely followed United, it is no surprise that the transition period for the club has been long since the last Premier League title win in 2012-13.
While on-the-field performances have never really lived up to the expectations from a United side, the lack of a definitive structure on the administrative and sporting control side of things has contributed to the imbalance at the club.
The combined departure of Sir Alex and David Gill at the end of the 2012-13 season was a body blow to the club regarding the balance between the commercial and football aspects.
With Ed Woodward and Richard Arnold being heavily aligned to the commercial prowess at United, football had taken the back seat and while the club still is a behemoth in commercial aspects, it is so far off from the pinnacle of football that a heavy restructuring job is required to get the team to compete at the top levels of world football.
Since INEOS entered the club, the endeavour has always been to revamp the structure behind the scenes which will then translate to better and more logical recruitment, and data-based decisions on gameplay, thereby leading to superior performances on the pitch.
The man behind the theory of marginal gains, Sir Dave Brailsford has been overseeing this revamp exercise with a close observation of all things United, be it games on the pitch and happenings/activities off the pitch pre-game day in and day out.
The first step has been to confirm the new CEO of Manchester United from next season onwards, Omar Berrada, a proper coup for the Red Devils with the highly experienced and proven chief executive crossing the Manchester divide from City. Berrada has a strong track record in ensuring that success on the pitch can bolster the commercial success of a football club, a stark contrast to Ed Woodward who had distinct boundaries between the commercial and football aspects.
The appointment of Berrada followed by the possible appointment of Dan Ashworth as the sporting director could spearhead a task force of the highest order fitting for the revival of a club of the size of United. Ashworth too, has a strong record in structured and targeted recruitment suited to the gameplay of a club with successful campaigns at Brighton and Newcastle establishing a clear supremacy of system-oriented and value-for-money signings.
🚨🚨🌕| The new model would see a head coach focused primarily on the training pitches of Carrington, while recruitment would be led by incoming sporting director Dan Ashworth and CEO Omar Berrada when they are in place at #mufc. [@mcgrathmike] pic.twitter.com/9FC5dM8Poo
— centredevils. (@centredevils) March 22, 2024
Infrastructure
Old Trafford, The Theatre of Dreams - From being one of the most advanced state-of-the-art stadiums of its time to now being outdated and calling out for a revamp to build a world-class modern football stadium befitting the world's biggest club.
A big portion of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's quotes have addressed the need for United to have a stadium capable of taking on the modern arenas of the world while retaining the historical value that Old Trafford holds in the eyes of the United faithful.
Considering the above - aspects, an 'Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force' led by Lord Sebastian Coe, chair of the London 2012 Olympics, alongside former United captain Gary Neville, the mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and the chief executive of Trafford Council Sara Todd has been formed and United do not intend to move away from Old Trafford but rather redevelop the current ground or build a new one on the adjacent piece of land owned by the club.
This project would see a far more widespread socio-economic impact for the entire Trafford area making it a hub with improved connectivity, finally creating a Wembley of the North in Sir Jim's own words.
🚨🚨💣 BREAKING NEWS!!
— mufcmpb (@mufcMPB) February 6, 2024
Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants Manchester United to create the “Wembley of the North” under ambitious plans for a spectacular NEW Old Trafford!
Ratcliffe believes the North of England should have a world-class venue to rival London’s 90,000 capacity Wembley… pic.twitter.com/yo8qCTdDzl
A further development on the infrastructural aspect would be to improve United's now outdated Carrington training facilities to equip the team with a more modern and up-to-date set of facilities that help deliver much-improved performances on the pitch.
Recruitment
While all transfer windows have expectations attached at United, the upcoming one is by far the biggest and most important in recent times.
With an improved structure behind the scenes, United would be expected to do away with overpaying on transfers and fast-tracking deals for the best talent available at fair valuations.
United now have the opportunity to build a talent pool alongside other INEOS-owned clubs in OGC Nice and FC Lausanne Sport, however, this is more of a long-term aspect than an immediate one and also has concerns of fair market valuations attached to it.
Further, the final aspect which makes United's window more complicated than ever is the need to address multiple equally important positions at once in the same window - A striker to support or compete with Rasmus Hojlund, defensive reinforcements at the centre and along the flanks especially at left-back with Shaw being prone to injuries and Malacia being absent for large parts of this season. The midfield while being stocked up in terms of personnel after the meteoric rise of Kobbie Mainoo, still calls for depth in terms of link play between defence and attack.
Finally, the ability of the coaching staff to piece together all these aspects to form a gameplay most suited to the club would define the heights that United can hit next season. A lot of questions still remain to be answered - Is Erik ten Hag considered by INEOS as the right choice to take United ahead? Further, with a sporting director and CEO in place, will Erik ten Hag agree to cede control over transfers to the sporting structure in place?
With the current season not living up to expectations, United fans worldwide still have a lot to look forward to next season. For the close of this season, the expectation would be to win the FA Cup and still finish in the CL qualification spots. This would set up a foundation for the team to build on next season and get United to the level that the club deserves.