18 November 2023 , 20:30
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe is Manchester United’s Mr. Fixit. Chief Executive Richard Arnold became the first high-profile casualty of the INEOS regime on Wednesday and the future of heavily-scrutinised Football Director John Murtough also hangs in the balance.
Ratcliffe has barely been at Old Trafford five minutes. Infact, his £1.25billion minority purchase of the club is still yet to have been rubber-stamped by the Glazers or formally ratified by the Premier League.
Nonetheless, the British billionaire intends to oversee a swift reconstruction of United’s footballing infrastructure before the project is placed firmly into the hands of his trusted professionals. Former Nice boss Adrian Ursea, who returned to the INEOS-owned Ligue 1 side post-takeover, witnessed first-hand the winds of change that swept through the French Riviera.
“The biggest difference was the club became certain there would no longer be problems with money,” Ursea said. “The first time I was there there were huge financial problems but once INEOS arrived - they went. I saw Jim sometimes but he only visited training sessions once or twice - not more.
“We never felt the pressure about Jim because in this period I saw much more of his brother Bob. I only saw Jim three or four times overall. It was clear that the big boss of the first-team during that situation was our director of football, Julien Fournier.”
Prior to his resignation in 2022, Fournier was the brains behind Ratcliffe’s Nice revolution. The 49-year-old French chief spearheaded recruitment plans and even met with United boss Erik ten Hag on four separate occasions to launch an unlikely sales pitch prior to the Dutchman’s appointment at Old Trafford.
Fournier worked in tandem with club president Jean-Pierre Rivere and Sir Jim’s sibling Bob Ratcliffe, who has since stepped down as INEOS’ head of football operations - meaning he will have zero involvement at United. Despite the wholesale changes, Nice finally appear to have cracked Ligue 1. They’re unbeaten from their opening 12 matches under Italian tactician Francesco Farioli and only trail champions Paris Saint-Germain by a single point.
But for all of Ratcliffe’s billions, he remains indebted to Romanian coach Ursea, who was tasked with preserving Nice’s top-flight status following the sacking of Patrick Vieira in December 2020. The assistant-turned-caretaker duly delivered, prompting a timely summer cash-injection from INEOS that saw Ligue 1-winning boss Christophe Galtier coldly prised away from champions Lille.
Adrian Ursea helped Nice survive relegation under Sir Jim Ratcliffe in 2021 (Icon Sport via Getty Images) “After I left, INEOS began spending more money on transfers,” Ursea adds in promising news for Manchester United supporters. “They spent around €60million in the market. Before, the club wouldn’t permit a transfer that cost more than €5m or €6m.
“Then Nice started to have the power to spend up to €15m on players because with INEOS the money was there. It was very important to save the situation - relegation would have been a catastrophe for the club. Maybe INEOS would have left, I honestly don’t know. I’m very proud that we saved the situation with our players, staff and president because it was a really, really, difficult period.”
In Nice, there is widespread concern amongst supporters that their beloved club may suffer in light of the news Ratcliffe is due to acquire a 25 per cent stake in United. But Ursea is adamant INEOS are committed to a long-term vision as they seek to replicate the success of treble-winning arch-rivals Manchester City - by assembling a global empire.
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“INEOS are in Switzerland with Lausanne and they’re still committed within the life of the club,” Ursea, who now manages Swiss third-division side Etoile Carouge, claims. “They are businessmen but beyond that they nominate the specialist people who know what’s truly inside the football club.
“I think it will be the same thing in Manchester United as in Nice. They want to construct a galaxy like Red Bull or the City Football Group. Jim is a business person and businessman but I think and know that he also loves Manchester United.”