Man Utd ‘won’t sack Ten Hag’ but Ratcliffe will stamp authority with power play

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Football Digest: Man Utd urged to give Ten Hag time he needs

Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag is not facing the sack if and when Sir Jim Ratcliffe takes control of football operations, but the British billionaire is set to lay down the law by limiting the Dutchman’s influence. Reports suggest Ratcliffe will seek to reduce Ten Hag’s power when it comes to making decisions on transfers, after watching several signings from his £400million spending spree fail to shine.

Ten Hag has played a significant role in encouraging the club to sign players he has previously worked with, with Lisandro Martinez, Antony and Sofyan Amrabat all arriving at the club during his 16-month reign.

But there has been a lack of progress in terms of United’s results on the pitch and Ratcliffe is set to take action once his £1.4billion investment in the club for a 25 per cent minority stake is completed.

According to the i newspaper, Ratcliffe is set to stamp his authority at United by insisting Ten Hag takes a step back from transfers. The 71-year-old will putting player recruitment ‘in the hands of experts’, leaving him to focus on turning around their season after five defeats in their opening 10 matches.

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Ratcliffe, whose company INEOS currently owns a controlling share in Ligue 1 club OGC Nice, is expected to order a ‘detailed and thorough audit’ of United’s football structure to gather information on their recruitment processes, data operations and explore how deals are worked on.

The Manchester-born billionaire is believed to be keen on replicating Manchester City’s approach to transfers after watching their city rivals thrive in the transfer market.

CEO Ferran Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain are left to negotiate deals for Pep Guardiola, who is happy to stay out of the negotiations unless it is necessary for him to intervene to convince a player to join them. The same framework has been in place before Guardiola was appointed in 2016, and Ratcliffe clearly believes a similar structure would benefit United.

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It is understood Ten Hag won’t face the sack under Ratcliffe despite overseeing one of their worst starts of a season in 37 years.

The United boss is facing intense pressure over his job, with critics piling on the 53-year-old again after their heavy 3-0 defeat to rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday.

That has followed recent defeats to Galatasaray and Bayern Munich in the Champions League, leaving the Red Devils in a difficult position both domestically and in European competition.

Ten Hag has also faced the difficulty of dealing with issues away from the pitch involving Antony, Mason Greenwood and Jadon Sancho, with the latter banished from the first team after a public falling out with his boss. 

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