Sir Jim Ratcliffe reveals Man Utd were treated ‘unfairly’

Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says the club was “unfairly” barred from signing an unnamed player due to his ownership of French club Nice.

In his first summer since acquiring a stake in United, the British billionaire is preparing for an active transfer window with a central defender and striker known to be on the club’s wishlist.

Ratcliffe has already made a major decision to keep faith in under-pressure boss Erik ten Hag, but will now look to make a big investment in the playing squad to improve on their eighth-place finish in the Premier League last season.

However, United’s ambitions already appear to have been somewhat thwarted, with Ratcliffe revealing he will not be able to sign a highly-rated player from Nice, the French club that Ratcliffe and INEOS also own.

Although the sale between two clubs under the same ownership is not completely prohibited, United’s position is even more complicated given that both clubs are expected to participate in the Europa League next season.

New UEFA guidelines published in May suggested that no owner could have “decisive influence” over two clubs competing in the same competition and also blocked transfers between those clubs as they attempted to participate in the same competition .

“We have for example a player at Nice who was really interested in joining Manchester United and I think he probably had the ability to be in the United team,” Ratcliffe told Bloomberg.

“They said we can sell him to another Premiership club, but we can’t sell him to Manchester United. But it’s not fair to the player and I don’t see what the point is.

Although Ratcliffe refused to name the player, several reports have suggested defender Jean-Clair Todibo is linked with a move to Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, other reports suggested Ratcliffe was considering selling Nice to comply with UEFA rules on multi-club ownership, but the 71-year-old has denied such speculation.

“We have no intention of selling Nice because I like the multi-club concept (ownership model) and I think Nice could be very complementary to United for two reasons.

“Firstly, you can sign young players better at Nice than at United. Sometimes you get a Kobbie Mainoo, but it can be harder to sign a player at United and that would obviously benefit Nice.

“Secondly, because of Brexit it is quite difficult to contact young generations of talent in Europe, but Nice can do it. So if there is a fantastic 15-year-old in France, we can sign him from Nice and use him as an intermediary to United later.

Speaking more specifically on this upcoming transfer window, Ratcliffe added: “There is room for improvement everywhere we look at Manchester United, and we will improve everything. We want to be where Real Madrid are today, but it will take time.

“Manchester United don’t have any players valued at €100 million or more. I’m not convinced we will solve all the problems in the first transfer window.

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