England legend David Beckham has expressed his admiration for Manchester United minority stakeholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The Inter Miami co-owner believes in Ratcliffe’s vision, citing him as not only “one of the best” businessmen in the world but also a devoted Manchester United supporter.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe Takes Charge of Soccer Operations at Manchester United
After a lengthy bidding process, the Glazer family, owners of Manchester United, agreed to sell a 27.7% stake to Ratcliffe and his company INEOS. As reported by BBC, Ratcliffe, the richest man in Britain, paid a staggering £1.25 billion ($1.62 billion) to oversee soccer operations at Man Utd.
Under Ratcliffe’s leadership, United has brought in chief executive Omar Berrada from Manchester City and has plans for a new stadium. However, there have also been controversial decisions, including the removal of Sir Alex Ferguson as an ambassador and sticking with Erik ten Hag despite on-field struggles.
David Beckham Supports Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Vision
Many Manchester United fans are hopeful for positive changes under Ratcliffe, and former Treble-winner Beckham is among them.
Beckham shared on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, “I think that it definitely needed change. I think, speaking as a United fan, I think many people said the club needed change and it needed a fresh perspective on how this club needs to be run and the decisions that are made.“
“I really like Jim, I’ve met him a few times over the years with a few mutual friends. I think that he’s a fan and obviously he’s a great businessman as well, one of the best and one of the biggest. But I think more importantly the fans see that he cares and I think that that’s a big part of it.”
Beckham added, “I think the fans had lost faith with the leadership over the years and obviously he really cares about, you know, what he wants to do and what he wants to create. So hopefully things will change, but these things take time. I think we’ve been quite patient as United fans over the years, but we want those good old days back. We want those days back, and the sooner the better.”
Manchester United, the most successful team in English soccer, has not won the Premier League title since 2013. The new leadership under Ratcliffe will aim to bring back those glory days in the near future.
