"Silly recruitment..." - Sir Jim Ratcliffe sent warning over planned Man Utd appointment

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been sent a warning over an appointment he reportedly plans to make if his Manchester United takeover bid is successful.

In November, United's owners the Glazers stunned the football and financial world by announcing they were exploring strategic alternatives for the club, including an outright sale.

The Americans are believed to want £6billion for the Old Trafford club, which would make it the most expensive sports team in the world by a significant margin.

So far, United have received two public proposals for the club from Ratcliffe and Qatari Sheikh, Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, though both have fallen short of the Glazers' valuation.

Both bids will reportedly attend detailed presentations at Old Trafford this week, as they enter the next phase of the takeover process.

And according to the Times, Ratcliffe is already piecing together plans for when he inherits the reins at United, with Sir Dave Brailsford allegedly central to what he hopes will be a “world-leading” team off the pitch.

Brailsford has previously enjoyed success with his “marginal gains” mantra. He was in charge of Team GB’s London 2012 all-conquering cycling time and general manager of Team Sky, who claimed seven Tour de France yellow jerseys.

Moreover, Brailsford has been Nice’s director of sport since 2021, the Ligue 1 club also owned by Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe warned over Brailsford

Speaking in October, French football journalist Julien Laurens was deeply critical of Brailsford's appointment at Nice.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily podcast via Cycling Weekly, the journalist said: “I think Brailsford is making a lot of mistakes at Nice that is very much counterproductive to what the project is and what it should be.

“He reminds me a little bit of Sir Clive Woodward when England won the Rugby World Cup.

“He thought he could go into any sport, including football, and be successful and it just doesn’t happen like that.

“That was silly recruitment. You have to explain to me what the logic behind it was, what the idea was and where they are going because it doesn’t really make much sense.

“Maybe you can make sense of it when you know Dave Brailsford is there. He clearly thinks he can do a good job in football.”