The Glazers remain but change is afoot at Manchester United with CEO Richard Arnold leaving the club ahead of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s £1.25billion investment, and the petrochemicals billionaire could have an ideal replacement in mind. Ratcliffe is on the verge of acquiring a 25 per cent stake in the club and the INEOS founder is set to clean house on the sporting side of the club.
While the Glazers will retain majority control of the club, Ratcliffe and INEOS is set to be trusted with the running of the football operation. With Arnold departing, football director John Murtough could follow as Ratcliffe puts his stamp on the club in hope of arresting a 10-year slide since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
One man tipped to replace Arnold as United’s chief executive is former Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain CEO Jean-Claude Blanc. The Frenchman, 60, is a Harvard Business School graduate and has extensive experience in the business of sport, earning many admirers for the way he steered Juve after joining the club in the fallout of a match-fixing scandal that saw the Old Lady relegated to Serie B in 2006
Blanc’s next job came at PSG in 2011 after the Qatari takeover of the French giants, dovetailing with sporting director Leonardo in a 12-year stretch that included 28 trophies. He left earlier this year to join Ratcliffe’s INEOS as its sports chief executive.
Therefore, it seems like a simple deal to make, if Blanc wants to take on the huge challenge that is repairing United. He has received rave reviews from colleagues past and present, with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi saying Blanc left the club “perfectly positioned” when he departed.
Fabrice Boquet, chief executive of INEOS-owned Ligue 1 club Nice, did not hold back in his praise. “He is a bit like the Lionel Messi of sports business. It is not only a question of expertise but of interpersonal skills. He brings his vision, his network, his calm, his experience,” he told L’Equipe.
Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivère added: “He is extremely competent and he embodies everything I like on a human level, with real values. He is frank, humble, efficient, pleasant on a daily basis. Jean-Claude ticks all the boxes.”
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Ratcliffe faces a frustrating wait before his team is given control on the operation. The deal needs to be ratified at a board meeting. Once that is completed, Premier League approval will be required, which could take six weeks.
It means INEOS’ fingerprints will not be on the upcoming January transfer window, which promises to be a crucial period for United, who are sixth in the Premier League after a disappointing start to the season for Erik Ten Hag’s side.
The club’s leading lawyer, Patrick Stewart, will take over as interim chief executive from Arnold. Blanc could be the perfect permanent replacement to usher in a new era at Old Trafford.
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