Sir Dave Brailsford's role at Man Utd becomes clear as INEOS confirm big change

21 January 2024 , 01:27

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Sir Dave Brailsford (right) will play an important role in Manchester United's future (Image: Getty Images)

Sir Dave Brailsford will conduct an audit on Manchester United in a bid to turn the struggling team into a winning machine.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has agreed to buy a 25 per cent stake in United for £1.3billion and will take charge of football affairs, although the deal still needs to be ratified by the Premier League. Brailsford is the director of sport at INEOS, the company Ratcliffe is chairman of.

Brailsford was expected to take on a big role at Old Trafford after Ratcliffe's deal was announced, having watched the team on multiple occasions over the past month. United fans hope his expertise can turn their fortunes around amid a disappointing season.

Erik ten Hag's side are seventh in the Premier League, 11 points behind Aston Villa in fourth. They've also been dumped out of Europe and the Carabao Cup, although they are still in the FA Cup. United haven't won the Premier League title for nearly 11 years.

But Ratcliffe and Brailsford are determined to make the club successful again. As reported by The Guardian, Brailsford will conduct an audit on United and has stepped away from his work with the INEOS Grenadiers cycling team to concentrate on his new task.

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Brailsford, who has masterminded seven Tour de France wins for INEOS Grenadiers (six under the guise of Team Sky), will try to pinpoint United's transfer mistakes since 2013 and explain why the club owes £364million in unpaid transfer fee instalments.

Ratcliffe is expected to stick by Ten Hag while Brailsford is completing his review. The audit also means United are unlikely to make any big signings this month, as Brailsford tries to work out where the club have gone wrong since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement.

Brailsford and Sir Jim Ratcliffe have already met Erik ten Hag (Getty Images)

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United have spent more than £1billion on players since Ferguson stepped down in 2013. The likes of Paul Pogba (£89m), Harry Maguire (£80m), Antony (£82m), Jadon Sancho (£73m) and Angel Di Maria (£59.7m) have failed to live up to their respective price tag.

United took a huge step into the future on Saturday night by announcing Omar Berrada as their new CEO. Berrada has stepped down from his role as the chief of football operations at the City Football Group (CFG), the organisation which own Manchester City.

Mirror Football understands Berrada will officially cross the Manchester divide at the end of the season. United insist they are "determined to put football and performance on the pitch at the heart of everything we do" and Berrada will help do that.

United want to become a "title-winning club" again and are "pleased that Omar will be joining us to help achieve that goal". City have said: "The club understands his (Berrada's) decision to look for a new challenge and he leaves with our thanks and best wishes."

Tom Blow