Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe said he doesn’t think the solution to the club’s problems “is to buy an Mbappé,” but rather to build a balanced squad.
United are currently going through a difficult spell after ending the 2023/24 season in eighth place. However, the red devils qualified for the Europa League after winning the FA Cup.
Despite being linked with numerous players in the transfer window, Jim Ratcliffe believes building a balance squad is the way to go for Man United.
“I don’t think the solution is to buy an Mbappé,” Ratcliffe told The Times CEO Summit on Thursday. “We are more grassroots than that. One player is not going to solve the problem at Manchester United.
“The first thing we need to do is build a balanced squad and ultimately maybe top it off with one or two players like Mbappé. It will take two or three summer windows to get to a better place.”
The British billionaire, who owns 29% of the club, blamed inefficient transfer spending for United’s woes.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, minority shareholder of Manchester United, shakes hands with Erik ten Hag after the Emirates FA Cup Final match between Manchester City and Manchester United . (Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)
He went on to praise Real Madrid for their spending in the past decade.
“If you compare, since the day that Sir Alex Ferguson and [former United chief executive] David Gill retired 11 seasons ago, Manchester United with Real Madrid, they have consistently performed well and performed where Manchester United should be performing today,” Ratcliffe said.
“The net spend on players at Manchester United is £1.1 billion ($1.4bn) and at Real Madrid, rather surprisingly, it’s £200m ($253m),” he said.
“If you look at the squads of Real Madrid and United, Real Madrid have seven players that are valued at over €100 million if you look at Transfermarkt. United do not have any players over €70 million or €80 million,” Ratcliffe added.
Earlier this month, Real Madrid announced the long-anticipated signing of Kylian Mbappé on a free transfer, ending their years-long wait for him to join the club.
