Sir Jim Ratcliffe has admitted that some of Manchester United’s current players are “not good enough” and some are “probably overpaid” in a frank assessment of the club’s ongoing struggles.
The Red Devils’ co-owner has made more headlines following a fresh round of media interviews in which he answered the strong criticism of his extremely tough tenure at Old Trafford to date.
Among the plethora of topics covered by Ratcliffe on Monday was United’s recruitment strategy and he namechecked Andre Onana, Casemiro, Antony, Rasmus Hojlund and Jadon Sancho as players that were “inherited” by the current regime but will cost them more money in the form of ongoing transfer payments owed to their previous clubs.
He also revealed that another £17million is due to Borussia Dortmund for Sancho in the summer, with the winger currently on a season-long loan at Premier League rivals Chelsea having fallen out with previous manager Erik ten Hag and lost his place in the United squad.
Speaking to the BBC, Ratcliffe 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 but whether we like it or not, we've inherited those things and we have to sort that out. For Sancho, who now obviously plays for Chelsea and we pay half his wages, we're paying £17m to buy him in the summer.
“It takes time for us to move away from the past into a new place in the future.”
When pressed on if he was saying those players were not good enough for United, Ratcliffe responded: "No, I’m just saying that we’ve... 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.
"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 [Fernandes], he's a fantastic footballer."
Ratcliffe also admitted that the decision not to sack Ten Hag last summer was a “mistake”, as was the hire of Dan Ashworth as sporting director that saw him last just five months before leaving in December, having previously spent five months on gardening leave at Newcastle during a long-running pursuit from United.
"I agree the Erik ten Tag and Dan Ashworth decisions were errors," Ratcliffe said.
"I think there were some mitigating circumstances, but ultimately they were errors. I accept that and I apologise for that."
