Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Man Utd arrival puts Erik ten Hag’s future in the spotlight
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Last summer Erik ten Hag believed that Sir Jim Ratcliffe was buying Manchester United outright and was looking forward to the deal being announced.
The United manager even thought it had been agreed, that a full takeover was imminent back then, and was told it might be in the best interests of the club and supporters.
In an era when the big clubs are owned by American investors – half the Premier League have partial or full US ownership – or are state-owned it was an opportunity, in fact, to position United as the “British club” and change the narrative around it.
Tottenham Hotspur are also British-owned but it would be a significant move among the so-called traditional ‘Big Six’ (Big Seven with Saudi-owned Newcastle United or even eight with US-owned Aston Villa) for United to pass from American back into UK hands. United could even use it as a USP – a unique selling point.
Ratcliffe may be domiciled in Monaco, having moved to the tax-free principality three years ago, but he is British, he was born in Failsworth – less than eight miles from Old Trafford – and he grew up a United fan. That is not PR spin.
Given the scale of the modern-day game and the investment needed that is an unusual set of circumstances – as is the fact that Ratcliffe eventually cut a clever deal with the Glazers to acquire a 25 per cent stake in United but, with it, also gaining control of football matters.
The 71-year-old has paid a premium of around £1.25 billion for a quarter of the club but, within United, there is an expectation that this might also involve an agreement to acquire a significantly greater share in the future and even as soon as next summer.
All parties deny there is a formal agreement. But the mechanism Ratcliffe has settled on with the Glazers, who did not receive the valuation they had wanted to relinquish full ownership, clearly suits both sides.
What does it mean for Ten Hag? United remain a cash cow in terms of income and revenue but in an age when Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, through the sovereign Public Investment Fund, are among their competitors he may have felt there was more financial power had Qatari Sheikh Jassim been successful in his bid.
Ten Hag is smart and ambitious and has also been demanding in the transfer market. He understands the unpopularity of the Glazer family and it would be understandable if he also thought it is in the best interests of United if they had made a clean break.
It was not lost on anyone at United, for example, that even as they gained their biggest away win in the league, the 3-0 victory at Everton in late November, the fans were still chanting for the Americans to go.
The Glazers have not gone. Not yet anyway. But it does appear that Ten Hag will be answering to a new master and, history has shown, when that level of control is taken the manager of the club does not tend to last: Roman Abramovich gave Claudio Ranieri – the “dead man walking” a year at Chelsea and that has continued to be the trend; Mark Hughes was given just over that at Manchester City after Sheikh Mansour’s takeover while Roy Hodgson lasted only a few months following FSG’s acquisition of Liverpool.
It does not help Ten Hag’s cause that United are struggling so badly, especially having not just exited the Champions League but Europe completely. He has a lot of questions to answer on the squad – including the alienation of Jadon Sancho – the recruitment, the coaching and where the team is heading.
The key – beyond the obvious need for results on the pitch – will be the infrastructure Ratcliffe and Ineos put in around Ten Hag with the expectation that a new sporting director will be appointed to replace football director John Murtough and probably a new head of recruitment also and with the chief executive Richard Arnold having already left.
Murtough, who drove the hiring of Ten Hag, is expected to remain for a handover period and there may, in fact, be a role for him going forward as he is desperate to stay in some capacity.
The dream candidate for the sporting director’s role would appear to be Dan Ashworth although it will be expensive and difficult to get him out of Newcastle United should he want to leave.
A number of other candidates are already under consideration – possibly as the recruitment head - including Crystal Palace’s Dougie Freedman, former Tottenham recruitment chief Paul Mitchell, Atalanta’s Lee Congerton, the former AC Milan duo Paolo Maldini and Frederic Massara and Andrea Berti – linked in the past as has been Mitchell – of Atletico Madrid.
That is an extensive and diverse list and Ratcliffe will clearly want to overhaul the football department as a priority given United’s questionable record in recruitment – with Ten Hag also responsible for this given £400 million has been spent under him with mixed results – even if Joel Glazer, the United co-chairman, will remain as the majority shareholder and ultimate decision-maker.
It appears that Ratcliffe, though, will be carrying out his own audit and along with his advisers Sir Dave Brailsford – who may prove to be key – and Rob Nevin has identified recruitment as a recurring failing at United. They will also look at the role of technical director Darren Fletcher.
Ten Hag is understood to himself have identified that United need to strengthen their football department to provide more support for him. What will be interesting to see is whether he accepts the structures that Ratcliffe is expected to put in place, especially if it diminishes his own powerbase.
How Ten Hag reacts to all of this may hold the key to his future as much as the results.
For now he is in a relatively strong position despite the unease at United’s football this campaign. They are not playing well but the Dutchman has helped provide the glue to hold the club together during the remarkably protracted year-long ‘strategic review’ under the Glazers that has only led to a partial sale.
Ten Hag has long ago reconciled himself to that – and that his new master will be Ratcliffe.
