The ‘impossible’ Man Utd presence that Sir Jim Ratcliffe cannot replicate for Ineos at Old Trafford – opinion

Sir Jim Ratcliffe might struggle to find footing with Ineos’ control of football operations if he cannot find a figure cut from the same cloth as one of Manchester United’s biggest past influences.

Ineos have hit road bumps along the way during their management of the Premier League side after Sir Jim Ratcliffe became co-owner of the Red Devils in 2024.

Ratcliffe’s team have already made it to their third permanent Manchester United manager in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era of the Premier League club so far.

Ineos have also seen changes behind the scenes to the United hierarchy, including the ill-fated spell of Dan Ashworth as the Premier League side’s sporting director.

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David Gill’s missing aura is what Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos are now lacking amid the Glazers’ ownership of Man Utd

Omar Berrada, who was widely credited for his work at Manchester City, has been at Manchester United as the chief executive officer since 2024. However, the 48-year-old Ineos-appointed figure has been facing criticism alongside director of football Jason Wilcox for the management of the club after last summer’s transfer spending.

The Red Devils were able to strengthen the midfield of the United first-team squad after signing the likes of Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Carlos Baleba. However, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s team was lambasted for not reinforcing other key areas of Michael Carrick’s side, including the full-back position and the forward role.

David Gill was incredibly influential during his time at the Premier League club and served as Sir Alex Ferguson’s right-hand man in the United CEO role. The 69-year-old former United chief executive steered the Red Devils through the post-Peter Kenyon era of the club and successfully orchestrated the Premier League side’s transfer activity.

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Rene Meulensteen, who was a key part of the United coaching staff under Sir Alex Ferguson, explained that David Gill’s aura in the chief executive role was never replicated after he left the Premier League club in 2013.

“And David Gill, because all the people that have come in those tactical CEO positions with Ed Woodward, Richard Arnold and all of them, they have not succeeded either,” he said on Football Uncensored.

“That’s the problem that [they have] and they have not got the know-how to possibly [do it without him].

“[…] Jim Ratcliffe comes in, they [the Glazers] give him the 25 per cent. He says, ‘I’m going to run the football side of it.’ The Glazers think ‘absolutely brilliant’ and ‘we have got no problems with that […] because we don’t know any of football anyway, so go ahead, Jim, please do sort it out.”

Both Ed Woodward and Richard Arnold failed to navigate United in the post-Ferguson era with the Red Devils’ transfer approach under the ownership of the Glazers. However, Ferguson was able to strike up a remarkable dynamic with Gill and overcome the constraints of managing the Premier League club amid the impact that the Glazers had from a financial standpoint.

As much as Ferguson was instrumental in leading United to their silverware haul, the process was a lot more fluid from top to bottom, despite the Glazer family’s presence. Ineos, on the other hand, are still lacking the Gill-esque figure who is driving United’s fortunes from behind the scenes and ushering in a new era for the Red Devils.