Ex-Liverpool striker Collymore names the ‘most important Man Utd signing in over a decade’

Former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore thinks Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be the “most important Manchester United signing in over a decade” if he completes a deal to buy 25 per cent of the club.

It was confirmed on Saturday that Sheikh Jassim had withdrawn from the race to take over Man Utd – who have the highest squad cost in the Premier League – with Ratcliffe deciding to invest in a minority stake in the club.

By buying 25 per cent of the Premier League club, the British billionaire sees it as the ‘first stage of a full takeover’ with none of the interested parties meeting the Glazers valuation of the club.

Reports have claimed that Ratcliffe is eyeing ‘a radical overhaul of Manchester United’s football department’ and is expected to ‘oversee player incomings and departures’ when the deal goes through.

And former Liverpool striker Collymore is welcoming the change at Old Trafford and is backing Ratcliffe to “change everything from top to bottom” at Man Utd.

Collymore told Lord Ping: “I think that Manchester United need to change everything from top to bottom regarding their football operations. They need to appoint an aggressive CEO that is a good communicator.

READ MORE: Man Utd takeover: Five realistic hopes in first five years of Ratcliffe investment

“I think that is an area where Richard Arnold has been found wanting. I think the senior leadership on the football side needs to be completely overhauled. I always look at clubs like Brentford and Brighton as two fantastic examples of how to structure a football club.

“They have a clear vision in terms of recruitment, tactics and philosophy. There is a clear development pathway from their academies into their first teams. They have appointed the right people in the right roles. Everything is aligned and everyone knows their jobs.”

Man Utd have already been linked with a number of new sporting directors and Collymore added: “I’ve spoken to Lee Dykes, Brentford’s Technical Director, he is a name that has been linked with Manchester United. He knows the leagues upside down and is a real straight talker.

“Matthew Benham the owner sets the tone and then you have the CEO. There are several levels of bureaucracy, but they are clear.

“Manchester United haven’t had that for years. I think Jim Ratcliffe needs to come in and use some of his INEOS expertise, putting in place a structure with levels of accountability. You need all the levels within the structure of your club completely aligned. It won’t be an instant fix.”

Collymore reckons Ratcliffe will be “the most important Manchester United signing in over a decade”, he continued: “Jim Ratcliffe has such vast experience in business and within a sporting environment in terms of sponsorships and team building. He will understand and know how successful organisations work.

“He will know what the benchmarks are and what key performance indicators will need to be put in place at Manchester United. I think it will take around three or four years before United are successful again and are ready to win the Premier League title. The most important thing for Manchester United is to have someone at the football club who is a leader and a winner and that is what Jim Ratcliffe is. He is the most important Manchester United signing in over a decade.”

On Sheikh Jassim’s failed bid, Collymore commented: “Sheik Jassim would have come in and paid off all the debt. Let’s try and buy Mbappe, let’s try and buy superstars. It would have been a totally different way to running a football club.

“He would have just thrown money at everything, whereas Jim Ratcliffe will bring some organisation and order to Manchester United. I know a lot of the younger fans may have preferred Jassim to come in and play fantasy football at United, but for me, in the long run, this will be much better for Manchester United and the English football pyramid.

“All fans want their clubs to spend money, but I also think that we want our football clubs to run as proper sane and sensible competitive entities. United fans want to be competitive for a long time and that is the stability that I think Ratcliffe offers that Jassim doesn’t.”