Man Utd offered transfer encouragement by ex-Nice boss over Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Man Utd are making huge changes ahead of Sir Jim Ratcliffe coming into the club | Football Digest
Former Nice head coach Adrian Ursea has hailed the spending power that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS brought to the French club ahead of the British billionaire’s deal to purchase a minority stake in Manchester United. Ratcliffe is reportedly closing in on a deal that would see him buy 25 per cent of the Red Devils for approximately £1.3billion and oversee the sporting side of the club.
Ratcliffe does already have football experience, having bought Ligue 1 side Nice in 2019. Ursea had two spells at Nice, before and after Ratcliffe as he was an assistant before then being picked for the top job. He noted the biggest change when Ratcliffe took over in a positive message to United supporters.
“The biggest difference was the club became certain there would no longer be problems with money,” Ursea told the Mirror. “The first time I was there there were huge financial problems but once INEOS arrived – they went. I saw Jim sometimes but he only visited training sessions once or twice – not more.
“We never felt the pressure about Jim because in this period I saw much more of his brother Bob. I only saw Jim three or four times overall. It was clear that the big boss of the first team during that situation was our director of football, Julien Fournier.”
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Whether Fourner would arrive at United with Ratcliffe remains to be seen as the likes of Paolo Maldini, Dougie Freedman, Paul Mitchell and Jean-Claude Blanc are being linked with executive-level roles at Old Trafford once Ratcliffe gets his foot in the door.
Ratcliffe’s first opportunity to win over the United faithful will come in the January transfer market, provided his purchase is ratified in time by the Premier League. Ursea explained how INEOS were prepared to provide a cash injection for signings to avoid the club getting relegated to Ligue 2 in a difficult spell for the side.
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“After I left, INEOS began spending more money on transfers,” Ursea added in a piece of promising news regarding United. “They spent around €60million (£52m) in the market. Before, the club wouldn’t permit a transfer that cost more than €5m (£4.3m) or €6m (£5.2m).
“Then Nice started to have the power to spend up to €15m (£13.1m) on players because with INEOS the money was there. It was very important to save the situation – relegation would have been a catastrophe for the club.
“Maybe INEOS would have left, I honestly don’t know. I’m very proud that we saved the situation with our players, staff and president because it was a really, really, difficult period.”
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