Sir Jim Ratcliffe provides damning assessment of Man United’s squad ahead of Ruben Amorim’s arrival

Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe appeared to provide a damning assessment of his club’s first-team squad during a recent interview.

The 72-year-old chairman, CEO and founder of INEOS spoke to reporters last month in Barcelona where he was pursuing sporting success with another of his projects at sailing’s America’s Cup.

Ratcliffe’s INEOS Britannia team eventually lost 7-2 to Emirates Team New Zealand in the Cup Match.

But prior to that defeat, Ratcliffe was asked if he could take away anything from INEOS Britannia’s campaign that might help him boost his football project at Old Trafford.

He replied by seemingly suggesting that the reason behind United’s poor Premier League performances in recent years was the lack of quality among the squad.

Ratcliffe recently made a comment appearing to suggest United’s squad was not good enough

British billionaire businessman Ratcliffe was pictured at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon

‘I think there’s one little crossover, which is that you can’t win the America’s Cup, unless you arrive at the America’s Cup with a boat that could win the America’s Cup,’ Ratcliffe said.

‘Same in Formula One. I mean you put Max Verstappen in a Williams, he’s not going to win a Formula One championship. And with football it’s the same with the squad in a way. That’s the parallel for me.

‘You can’t win anything in football if your squad isn’t good enough to win something. The quality of the squad is a bit like the speed of the boat. That’s the only parallel really.’

Just two weeks after this comment, Ratcliffe took the decision to sack United manager Erik ten Hag, before eventually hiring Ruben Amorim as his replacement.

Amorim will start work at Old Trafford on November 11 after serving a notice period at current club Sporting Lisbon.

United will remain under the stewardship of interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy until then.

Ratcliffe recently sacked Erik ten Hag before picking Ruben Amorim (pictured) to replace him

Until Amorim arrives on November 11, Ruud van Nistelrooy will continue as interim manager

Ratcliffe took control of football operations at United in February after completing a deal to buy a 27.7% stake in the Premier League club

Amorim will likely be keen to improve United’s squad using the transfer market. However, United already spent in the region of £600million on new players during Ten Hag’s two and a half years in charge.

Seven of the 11 players that started for United against Chelsea on Sunday had been signed by Ten Hag. That game ended 1-1 after Moises Caicedo’s equaliser cancelled out a converted penalty by Bruno Fernandes.

Sunday’s result left United 13th in the Premier League table with just 12 points from their first 10 games this season. They finished eighth last season. 

Van Nistelrooy now has two games remaining before he stands aside for Amorim.

The Dutchman will oversee Thursday’s Europa League home game against FK Bodo/Glimt before ending his stint in the Old Trafford hot seat three days later when United host Leicester in the Premier League.