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Neither Sir Jim Ratcliffe, nor his right-hand man Sir Dave Brailsford, will make the final decision on the long-term future of Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager.
Rather, Samuel Luckhurst (The Manchester Evening News) reveals, the Dutchman’s fate will fall at the feet of Omar Berrada – the club’s new chief executive.
Berrada was poached under the noses of local rivals Manchester City in January, after the INEOS Sport team, headed by Brailsford, initiated a clandestine approach for the 45-year-old executive before Christmas.
Prior to this, Brailsford had conducted an industry-wide search for the best candidate for the vacant chief executive role at Old Trafford, following the announcement Richard Arnold would be departing the club. Berrrada’s name was one which came strongly recommended by multiple different sources.
Football insiders describe the appointment as a “potential game-changer“, with one senior figure at a Premier League club considering it the “first genuinely elite move” made at Old Trafford in the past decade. Similarly, another source believes Berrada to be the best signing made by United since a teenage Cristiano Ronaldo arrived from Sporting.
And it’s for precisely this reputable skillset that Ratcliffe appears ready to empower Berrada to make the final judgement on United’s manager.
Luckhurst contends the club’s new chief executive, who is currently on gardening leave ahead of officially starting the role this summer, will be the “defacto kingmaker on any decision over manager Erik ten Hag’s future.”
The reporter reveals Ratcliffe “does not want to intervene to determine Ten Hag’s fate”, instead preferring to “delegate” the decision to the new executive structure being established at Old Trafford, headed by Berrara. Luckhurst also writers that a well-placed source contends Brailsford will not influence this decision either, though the INEOS Sport director is continue to conduct a thorough audit at the club in the background.
Berrada is expected to be joined by Dan Ashworth as United’s new sporting director, if a compensatory deal with current club Newcastle can be struck. The 52-year-old was placed on gardening leave by the Tyneside club in February, after he communicated his wish to accept United’s offer, following an approach by INEOS.
Luckhurst reveals Ashworth’s “arrival from Newcastle is not thought to be imminent”, suggesting a potential compromise with the Magpies continues to prove difficult.
Ideally INEOS are believed to have wanted a “settled structure” in place at the head of the football operation at Old Trafford before any managerial change was decided. The protracted nature of the pursuit of Ashworth – INEOS’ first-choice target for the sporting director role – may not make this possible, however.
As such, the responsibility could largely fall down to Berrada. And given his gardening leave from City only allows him to begin at United come the summer, this is likely to be a significant factor in the decision to keep Ten Hag in place until the end of the season.
Whether the Dutchman will survive beyond the final game against Brighton & Hove Albion is an entirely different proposition.
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