Long-known as one of the richest football clubs in the world, Manchester United’s new part-owner has appointed a restructuring firm to draw up cost-cutting measures. Following input from Interpath Advisory, Jim Ratcliffe has announced that the organisation will shed a quarter of its staff.
INEOS, led by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, bought a minority stake in Manchester United from the Glazer family in December of 2023. While much of the press coverage has since referred to Ratcliffe as the club’s ‘new owner’, however, the multi-billion deal still sees the unpopular Glazers retain a controlling stake in operations. Effectively the deal just outsources the daily running of the club.
Setting about the task in earnest earlier in 2024, Ratcliffe – a tax exile, who now resides in Monaco – appointed external help for the procedure. Bringing in a team from Interpath Advisory, Ratcliffe reportedly commissioned the firm to “oversee a major cost-cutting drive”, in the hope it could free up funds to invest in the first-team squad, and develop training facilities.
According to the London Times, Interpath was tasked with examining all areas” of the Red Devils’ business, with a “view to driving greater efficiency and determining where savings can be made.” The areas identified for saving money do not seem to have included Ratcliffe and INEOS doing their own due-diligence rather than paying for external advisors. Nor does it seem to factor in moving on the £86 million transfer flop Antony, who has cost an additional £10,400,000 per year in wages over the last two seasons, while scoring a meagre five goals.
If anything, the ‘savings’ unlocked for transfers seem aimed at shovelling more money into that particular pit – with the arrival of former Ajax teammate Noussair Mazraoui reportedly targeted at making Antony more comfortable.
So, where has the axe landed? In a bid to reduce operating costs, Manchester United’s first target has been its own staff. According to the Athletic, 250 of United’s 1,112 staff are set to receive their marching orders from the club’s new hierarchy – which also announced recently that it would be banning the remaining staff from performing remote work. It has not been a popular move on many fronts.
Speaking on the move, United defender Jonny Evans told the press, “A lot of people have lost their jobs their last couple of weeks, it’s been hard and difficult to see. The new owners feel that’s the direction that they want to go. But, you know, it’s not been easy for everyone at the same time… There’s people you’ve known for 20 years and I think the timing of it happened when we came away on tour pretty much… It’s been a difficult thing to see. People I’ve known for a long, long time. One thing about working in a club like Man United, you’re all in and everyone’s always been all in, it’s a big massive staff. But I think that’s just been the culture of the club.”
Beyond the personal level, critics have also suggested that the numbers behind the move don’t stack up to much beyond performative ‘tough decisions’ for a club of United’s financial stature. On the Guardian Football Weekly podcast, journalist Philippe Auclair pointed out the move comes after a year of record turnover for the Old Trafford club, while Barry Glendenning noted, “Antony cost them £80 million” and “God knows what he’s cost them in wages since then”, meaning the optics were bad as “this is going to save them about, they reckon, £8 million pounds a year.”
Sources have said that there are “no fixed targets for savings”, but that the aim of the review was to “identify areas where the club can spend money more effectively and maximise resources available for investment in football success as well as facilities”. On that front, Ratcliffe has also prompted ire from observers for his perceived de-prioritising of the women’s team. On the back of winning their first FA Cup, the women have been asked to use portacabins for their changing facilities, to make way for the men’s team – who cannot use their own facilities while they undergo a renovation.