Sir Jim Ratcliffe buries five Man Utd signings in extraordinary interview

Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has openly questioned the signings of a number of current players, saying they are "not good enough" and "overpaid" while others have been "inherited' and need their situations addressing.

The billionaire INEOS chief has implemented sweeping changes at Old Trafford, dismissing Erik ten Hag as manager after initially handing him a contract extension before culling hundreds of jobs at the club in a bid to cut costs.

A number of decisions made by Ratcliffe and his partners have proven to be unpopular, but he's always maintained that in order to begin challenging for honours again, United must completely overhaul how they operate and do business.

Ratcliffe, who is a lifelong Manchester United fan, took part in a wide-ranging number of interviews on Monday, sitting down with BBC Sport among other outlets. And it was during this conversation that he detailed a number of mistakes that have been made in the transfer market, claiming it's now his responsibility to help clear up the mistakes of those who came before him.

Interestingly, he made a point of naming five United players when discussing errant transfers, three of whom are still playing for the club at the moment.

He said: "If you look at the players we are buying this summer, that we didn't buy, we're buying Antony, we're buying Casemiro, we're buying Onana, we're buying Hojlund, we're buying Sancho. These are all things from the past, whether we like it or not, we've inherited those things and have to sort that out.

"For Sancho, who now plays for Chelsea and we pay half his wages, we're paying £17m to buy him in the summer.

"Some are not good enough and some probably are overpaid, but for us to mould the squad that we are fully responsible for, and accountable for, will take time," Ratcliffe continued.

"We've got this period of transformation where we move from the past to the future. There are some great players in the squad as we know, the captain is a fabulous footballer. We definitely need Bruno, he's a fantastic footballer."

Man Utd would have run out of cash by Christmas - Ratcliffe

The decision to make a number of employees redundant, eradicate free lunches for the staff that remain and raise ticket prices mid-season for Under-16s and seniors has attracted widespread criticism in recent months.

Ratcliffe said he didn't enjoy having to make such changes, knowing the effect that will have on the community feeling of the club, but guaranteed they were necessary measures in order for United to survive.

The 72-year-old went as far as to say that United would have run out of money by Christmas had they not altered course – a damning indictment of the losses the club have been making despite their vast turnover.

"Manchester United would have run out of cash by the end of this year - by the end of 2025 - after having me put $300m (£232.72m) in and if we buy no new players in the summer," he said.

"We are in the process of change and it's an uncomfortable period and disruptive and I do feel sympathy with the fans. The simple answer is the club runs out of money at Christmas if we don't do those things.

"If you spend more than you earn eventually that's the road to ruin."

"I don't enjoy reading the newspaper very much these days I have to say," he added. "I know it's unpopular, and this period of change is uncomfortable for people, and some of the decisions we have to make are unpleasant. But they are necessary to put Manchester United back on to a stable footing. If people want to see Manchester United winning trophies again then we have do all this stuff.

"I recognise I'm unpopular at the moment - but I am prepared to be, and I can deal with being unpopular for a period of time because I believe that what we're doing is the right thing.

"Manchester United has come off the rails - we need to get it back on the rails, and I believe what we are doing will put it back on the rails and we'll finish up being where Liverpool or Real Madrid are today in the future.

"When the going gets tough people need to show a bit of resilience, a bit of grit - don't wilt - and come out the other side fighting and that's what we will do."

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