Sir Jim Ratcliffe will reportedly follow Chelsea’s model at Manchester United by hiring more than one sporting director. Paul Mitchell is in line for a job at Old Trafford but he may not be the only candidate brought in.
United are yet to officially announce Ratcliffe’s investment into the club. The British billionaire is set to buy a 25 per cent stake into the Red Devils worth around £1.3billion.
It will bring to an end a year-long saga since the Glazers first signalled they would be open to selling all or part of their shares. He has beaten off competition from Sheikh Jassim and is set to be announced imminently.
Ratcliffe will be given responsibility for the football department at United and will make a series of appointments. Former British Cycling chief Sir Dave Brailsford is the director of sport at Ratcliffe’s company INEOS and will follow him to United in some capacity.
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A sporting director will be a key addition to the hierarchy to spearhead United’s transfer business, which has taken strong criticism in recent years. But talkSPORT claims that responsibility won’t be solely down to one person.
The report says there is a ‘strong possibility’ that former Southampton and Tottenham chief Mitchell will land one role as sporting director. However, Ratcliffe will also look to hire another candidate in a similar position.
Dougie Freedman currently holds that role at Crystal Palace and has attracted interest from United. It is also claimed that AC Milan and Italy legend Paulo Maldini is another name under discussion.
If Ratcliffe goes down the route of having multiple sporting directors, it will be a similar setup to that of Chelsea. Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart currently occupy the roles of co-sporting directors at Stamford Bridge.
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Chelsea announced in February that the pair would take up those positions. Owner Todd Boehly had been the interim sporting director up until January.
Boehly has spent over £1bn since he bought Chelsea in May 2022. Much of that came in the summer, with big-money deals for the likes of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.
Winstanley and Stewart also oversaw a huge influx of exits from Chelsea in the summer transfer window. They brought in large fees from the sales of Kai Havertz and Mason Mount.
Ratcliffe will be hoping his two co-sporting directors will be able to work in cahoots to make the necessary adjustments to the United squad. Erik ten Hag spent around £190m in the summer but more tweaking is needed to bring United closer to the likes of Manchester City.
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