A NEXT GEN OF MBAPPES AND JUDES FOR JIM
JIM RATCLIFFE is focused on bringing the next generation of superstars to Manchester United instead of signing Jude Bellingham or Kylian Mbappe.
Ineos chairman Ratcliffe (above) is taking control of footballing operations at United following his minority purchase and wants to turn the club back into the force they were.
However, he believes spending big on marquee signings is not the way to prosper. And England superstar Bellingham (inset above, top) is not currently on United’s radar.
“He is a great footballer,” Ratcliffe said. “It’s not where our focus is, the solution isn’t spending a lot of money on a couple of great players.
“They have done that, if you look at the last 10 years, they have spent a lot of money on a couple of great players.
“The first thing we need to do is get the right people in the right boxes who are managing and organising the club. And make sure we get recruitment right, it is such a vital part of football today.”
United have splashed the cash in recent years though big-money arrivals such as Jadon Sancho and Romelu Lukaku have struggled.
“I would rather sign the next Mbappe rather than spend a fortune buying success,” Ratcliffe added.
“It’s not that clever buying Mbappe (inset, above). Anyone could figure that one out. More challenging is to find the next Mbappe or next Bellingham or next Roy Keane.”
Ratcliffe wants Manchester United’s next bunch of superstars to have a stadium suitable for their talents.
Old Trafford was rocking for the FA Cup win over Liverpool at the weekend, but Ratcliffe acknowledges a new Theatre of Dreams is needed.
“It needs to have a stadium that’s befitting the club and the brand,” Ratcliffe said on The Geraint Thomas Cycling Club. “We can refurbish the ground and we’ll do a really nice job of that. And that would cost about a billion pounds to do and the club can shoulder that burden.
“But if you built a completely new ground it would absolutely be state of the art, world-class, 90,000 or maybe even 100,000 capacity), providing a platform for some of the big competitions in the north of England.”