Sir Jim Ratcliffe blasts UEFA for ‘unfair’ decision that strengthens rivals Man Utd

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has blasted UEFA over a recent decision which negatively affects Manchester United and provides a boost to their Premier League rivals.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe took over 27.7% of Manchester United and control of all sporting activities at Old Trafford six months ago, and many changes have been made since.

Former CEO Richard Arnold has resigned and is set to be replaced by ex-Manchester City manager Omar Berrada, while former director of football John Murtough has left his post and will eventually be replaced by ex-Newcastle sporting director , Dan Ashworth.

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Jason Wilcox has also joined the club as technical director, while Darran Fletcher, who previously held the role, is set to take on a new role at United. After extensive deliberations, INEOS, Ratcliffe’s group, has decided to retain Erik ten Hag as manager.

However, one area that Ratcliffe still needs to change is the playing squad. The transfer window has just opened and United have apparently submitted several offers for several players, but there have been no incomings yet.

Ratcliffe has now revealed that a player, who plays for another club he owns, Ligue 1 side OGC Nice, wanted to join United, but UEFA blocked the move, explaining that clubs owned by the same people do not could not transfer between them.

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

He then explained that he was told he could only sell the player to a Premier League club other than Manchester United. If Ratcliffe believes he is a player capable of playing at Old Trafford, the fact United cannot sign him is a huge boost for their rivals.

This would mean that if they wanted to sign the player, they could do so without competition from the Old Trafford club.

“They said we can sell him to another Premiership club, but we can’t sell him to Manchester United, which is unfair really. I don’t see what the point is.

Ratcliffe refused to mention who the player is, but it is most likely 24-year-old central defender Jean-Clair Todibo. Fabrizio Romano reported on Wednesday that although negotiations between all parties were advanced, UEFA had now blocked the move.

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