“But we need to go through the change. Nobody likes change”
Manchester United co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has hit back at criticisms over the major redundancies made at the club since his takeover. In February, United confirmed that up to 200 Manchester United staff members could lose their jobs this year in the latest round of cuts at the Premier League club.
In 2024, United slashed their workforce by nearly a quarter when 250 staff were let go and the club said it “anticipates that approximately 150-200 jobs may be made redundant” this year. As well as the news of job cuts, reports came out that current staff will no longer receive free hot meals, with fruit provided instead, along with soup with toast at Carrington training facility in their campaign to save money.
During a candid interview with The Times, Ratcliffe reacted to the criticisms about cutting the free staff lunches by dismissing the discourse and saying: “Nobody ever gave me a free lunch,”.
He went on to explain why so many changes are having to be made at the club, detailing the dire financial situation it finds itself in after years of expensive player recruitment and lack of silverware. Speaking to The Times, Ratcliffe said: “This summer we will ‘buy’ Antony, Sancho, Casemiro, Martinez, Hojlund and Onana and they’re all about 17 million quid each,” he said. “Because that’s what is outstanding. If we buy nobody else we’re buying those players.
“But it will be a very profitable club. We believe that in three years’ time it will be the most profitable football club in the world. And it will be in a very, very different place. But we need to go through the change. Nobody likes change.”
“The changes that we’ve made over this season, plus the ones that have been announced recently [more redundancies], will put us in a position to be able to do that,” he added.
“At INEOS we run a lean organisation. As my mother said, you look after the pennies, the pounds look after themselves. We can sound flippant about free lunches but if you give all these perks, first class train fares, free taxis, it’s not coherent. It goes bust at Christmas.
“We’ve made some really tough decisions and now we’re seeing staff understanding what we’re trying to do. There’s a clear vision of what we’re trying to achieve.”
In 2023, the club announced that Ratcliffe had acquired a 25% in Manchester United, marking him the majority shareholder and his company, INEOS Sport head of football operations. The purchase was completed in February 2024.
However, their first year in charge has proved difficult with high profile sackings of previous manager Erik ten Hag and former sporting director, Dan Ashworth, who only lasted five months in the role. Furthermore, Ratcliffe and INEOS have been under heavy criticism after carrying multiple redundancies to the club with a further 200 expected this year.