Sir Jim Ratcliffe spoke to the BBC to mark a year as co-owner of Manchester United and made the shock proclamation that some of the club’s players aren’t good enough
Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has said some of the club’s players are “not good enough” and “overpaid”.
The British billionaire – the subject of chants from thousands of fans protesting the club’s ownership ahead of Sunday’s draw with Arsenal – spoke to mark a year as co-owner as the club sits 14th in the Premier League.
He name-checked midfielder Casemiro, striker Rasmus Hojlund, goalie Andre Onana as players his regime had “inherited” along with wingers Antony and Jadon Sancho, both currently shipped out on loan.
Ratcliffe, 72, was asked if those players were good enough to play for the club during the sit down interview with the BBC, in which he said the club’s player wage bill came to an eye-watering £250million per year.
He answered: “Some are not good enough and some probably are overpaid, but for us to mould the squad that we are fully responsible for, and accountable for, will take time.”
Ratcliffe said a £17m payment was still to be made for Sancho this summer, four years after he was signed for a whopping £73m from Borussia Dortmund.
He returned to the German club on loan after falling out with then-United boss Erik ten Hag and was loaned to Chelsea at the start of the current season and United still pay half his wages.
Brazilian Antony is on loan at Spanish club Real Betis after struggling at Old Trafford following an £81.5m move from Ajax.
Casemiro arrived in 2022 in a £70m deal and Denmark striker Hojlund arrived the following year for £72m. Cameroon international Onana joined the club in the same summer for £47.2m. All those players have drawn criticism during their time at the club.
Lifelong United fan Ratcliffe, who became co-owner last February, has irked fans with decisions such as a mid-season hike of home tickets to £66 per match.
Other cost-cutting measures such as hundreds of redundancies and the removal of free lunches for staff came under criticism from fans.
Ratcliffe said there would likely be “some modest price increases” next season but the club will “try to hold the under 16s tickets” at last year’s price.
But while he admitted some of the decisions were “unpopular”, he claimed the club was set to run out of money by the end of the year without taking action.
And he insisted: “They are necessary to put Manchester United back on to a stable footing. If people want to see Manchester United winning trophies again then we have do all this stuff.”
He went on: “And at the end of the day what’s Manchester United here for if it’s not to win trophies and silverware? What we want to do is invest in the best players in the world if we can, rather than spend it on, I’m afraid, free lunches.”
On the pitch, he gave his unwavering backing to new head coach Ruben Amorim, appointed in November following the sacking of Erik Ten Hag.
United have lost nine of their 26 games under him and are 36 points behind league leaders and rivals Liverpool, but Ratcliffe said: “If I actually look at the squad which is available to Ruben, I think he is doing a really good job to be honest.
“I think Ruben is an outstanding young manager. I really do. He’s an excellent manager and I think he will be there for a long time.”
He pointed to “a long list of injuries” which had hampered Portuguese gaffer Amorim, who “arrived mid-season into a tough league” and with “English as his second language”.
Ratcliffe added: “You are beginning to see a glimpse of what Ruben can produce. I think you saw a glimpse of it against Arsenal.
“How many players against Arsenal on the bench did you recognise? How many have ever worn a Manchester United shirt for [the first team]… there’s no squad left. We are down to the last 10 or 11 men in the squad really, of proper first-team players. I think Ruben is doing a super job.”
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