Messi of CEOs to Mr Marginal Gains - seven key men behind Ineos' Man Utd deal
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has finally completed his £1.3bn deal to purchase 25 per cent of Manchester United, bringing a convoluted process lasting 397 days to an end.
The deal, subject to Premier League ratification, will see Ratcliffe’s Ineos Sport group take control of the club's footballing operation and that should see some significant changes to their recruitment department.
And while it is not the complete sale that most supporters were hoping for, allowing the Glazers to retain majority control for now, there will be some new faces involved in the decision-making process.
Although Ratcliffe, one of Britain's richest men, is a household name, not as much is known about some of his key lieutenants. Here is a who’s who guide to the Ineos figures likely to have some involvement behind the scenes at Old Trafford.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe (founder and chairman of Ineos)
The 70-year-old was born in Failsworth, east Manchester and claims to be a childhood fan of the club. He began working at Esso before moving on and up, ending up as Ineos’ founder and subsequently becoming Britain’s richest man, worth more than an estimated £12bn. The decision to bid for United came from him directly.
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Rob Nevin (chair for sport)
He has been with Ineos for two decades having started as a graduate engineer at BP in 1981 and now chairs the entire sport wing - featuring cycling, sailing among others on top of football - that will translate into a zoomed-out view of United.
Nevin was also part of the delegation that met club officials and received a tour in March.
Jean-Claude Blanc is favourite to be the next CEO at Manchester United. (Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)Jean Claude Blanc (chief executive for sport)
The former chief executive joined Ineos as chief executive for their sport wing in February and works across the entire multisport formula, which includes Formula 1, cycling, sailing and running.
A former director at Paris Saint-Germain, Blanc has also worked in tennis and the Olympics during more than 20 years in the exec business. The press release announcing his recruitment made it clear that “the responsibility for execution and delivery in sports remains with each sports team CEO”, leading to an initial belief that he will be operating above the day-to-day chiefs at United.
But the announcement that Richard Arnold would be leaving the club means Blanc is now the overwhelming favourite to become the new CEO at United and that should, initially at least, be a popular move.
"He is a bit like the Lionel Messi of sports business," Nice CEO Fabrice Boquet told L'Equipe. High praise but with that comes major expectations from one of the sport’s most demanding fanbases.
Explaining Blanc’s present role in more detail, Ineos said: “Jean Claude will be responsible for the development of state-of-the-art dedicated facilities for each of the teams that INEOS owns, developing their business plans and growing their global brands, as well as developing them into a global integrated Sports Group.”
Bob Ratcliffe (chief executive of Ineos football)
The younger brother of Sir Jim oversees the football operation - which already features Nice, Lausanne Sport and Ivorian side Racing Club Abidjan - and has previously spoken frankly about a number of issues from the importance of all clubs under their ownership to play a similar attractive style to rather watching than .
He previously had a season ticket at only to bemoan how much it had become a corporate environment.
Sir Dave Brailsford (head of elite performance)
The former British Cycling chief, credited with the application of marginal gains, joined Ineos in 2021 to head up a role that effectively puts all their sporting interests on the same page in terms of strategy and philosophy.
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Or, as the firm put it themselves when announcing his appointment: “Brailsford will work with each of the teams to develop this agenda and the supporting framework that fosters cross team collaboration and shared learning.”
Brailsford was spotted at Carrington last week meeting key figures and will be given a role focused on improving the club’s culture. Expect him to look at aspects such as nutrition, sports science and even how much sleep players are getting, while ensuring that the backroom staff all share the same focus.
Sir Dave Brailsford with Sir Jim Ratcliffe at an Ineos cycling event. (Michael Steele/Getty Images)Andy Currie (co-owner)
The Doncaster-born 67-year-old, who studied natural sciences at Cambridge, owns about 20% of Ineos and was part of the group that received a tour of Old Trafford and the Carrington training ground in March before meeting key figures at the club such as Richard Arnold.
Currie has been a director at Ineos since 1999 having worked in sales and marketing for Inspec group, the petrochemical giant’s former parent company, since the early 90s.
Forbes estimates that he is worth more than £6bn. He is likely to operate in the shadows rather than a front-facing role.
John Reece (co-owner)
A chartered accountant who made partner at big four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, the 66-year-old joined Ineos as financial director in 2000 and is now the company’s CFO.
Last year he was rumoured to be exploring an investment in his hometown club , separate to Ineos, but it amounted to little more than speculative chatter.
According to Forbes his worth is also more than £6bn, reflecting a similar stake to Currie in the company. Along the same lines to Currie, he will be lurking in the background should United come under Ineos’ umbrella.
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