Manchester United legend Paul Scholes is in full support of an important decision that Ineos chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made at Old Trafford so far.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe became a co-owner of Manchester United in 2023 after the Ineos chief captured a minority stake in the Premier League club.
The 71-year-old British billionaire has seen his Ineos team take control of football operations at Old Trafford since his ascendency to co-owner status.
Ratcliffe and Co have made sweeping changes behind the scenes at Old Trafford, including the arrival of Omar Berrada as United chief executive.
Dan Ashworth has also been appointed sporting director at United, while Jason Wilcox has assumed the role of technical director under the Ineos regime.
Ratcliffe’s Ineos team have also been active in their first summer transfer window and already brought in new signings for Erik ten Hag’s first-team squad.
Netherlands striker Joshua Zirkzee has been signed from Serie A outfit Bologna, while highly rated Frenchman Leny Yoro was snapped up from Ligue 1 side Lille.
Scholes on Ratcliffe’s big decision
Speaking to Sky Sports, Paul Scholes made his feelings clear on Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag remaining at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag endured a turbulent second season at Old Trafford, with United finishing in eighth place in the Premier League table.
However, the 54-year-old signed off the 2023-24 campaign by leading United to the FA Cup trophy with a 2-1 win over Manchester City in the final at Wembley.
Ineos launched an end-of-season review and decided to retain the services of Ten Hag, whose future had been shrouded in mystery after Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival.
Ten Hag inked a new contract extension with United this summer ahead of his third season in charge at Old Trafford.
When asked if Ratcliffe and Ineos made the right call to keep Ten Hag, Scholes said: “Yeah, I think so.
“We’ve changed managers that many times that you can’t really get a feel for what they would have done over three, four or five years. This is his third season now.
“So, he’s been there for a while and knows the clubs well. He’s possibly not been happy with some of the stuff behind the scenes and now it seems to have changed.
“They’re signing some good young players and hopefully he’s been given the time to get it right.”
Ten Hag on staying at Man Utd
Ten Hag revealed that he told Ineos his vision for United going forward, despite admitting that he had a “confrontational conversation” with the club’s hierarchy.
“The argument they gave was briefly: we’ve looked at everything and put it all together, but we think we already have the best manager in-house,” he told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, as per The Guardian.
“Then I did say: then we need to discuss some things, about how we interact and collaborate. We had a good, honest, but also confrontational conversation about that. As it should be at the top.
“I gave my vision of the season, on the situation at United. And I indicated which path we should take in my opinion. You have to be very honest with each other about that.
“And then it’s about: do you come together or not? I also told them: ‘If you think this is not the way, then we should just part ways.’”
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