Romano reveals what he’s ‘hearing’ about Man Utd transfer focus as Ratcliffe ‘galaxy’ idea comes to light
New Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is set to focus on young talents of the future in their summer recruitment drive, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.
The British billionaire completed his deal to buy 25 per cent of the Red Devils last month and has now taken over footballing operations at the Premier League club.
Ratcliffe and INEOS have already brought in Omar Berrada as new CEO from arch-rivals Man City – who they lost 3-1 to in the Manchester derby on Sunday – while they are expected to push to bring in Dan Ashworth from Newcastle as their new sporting director.
Once Ashworth or another sporting director is in place then Ratcliffe can push forward with his transfer plans ahead of the summer transfer window.
It is increasingly unclear whether manager Erik ten Hag will form part of the new era under INEOS with Man Utd now 11 points off fourth-placed Aston Villa in the Premier League with 11 matches to play.
But Ratcliffe and his INEOS team are already planning a Man Utd ‘galaxy’ of young stars, according to Romano.
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Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column: “What a performance we saw from Manchester City in yesterday’s derby. I see them on another level, in all honesty, but there were positives there as Marcus Rashford scored a fantastic goal to give Manchester United the lead in the first half.
“In the end, City had too much quality but United have also been unlucky with injuries, so it got harder for them, especially in the final 20 minutes.
“Looking ahead, we know important weeks are coming for Manchester United – first, they need to agree compensation with Newcastle for Dan Ashworth, as an agreement between Ashworth and United is already done. It’s also important to say that they are already planning for after this appointment and looking ahead to the summer transfer window.
“One thing I’m hearing from sources in the industry is that Man United under INEOS will try to work to bring in top young talents to the club. These young players could also generally become part of the Man United ‘galaxy’, because they also have the connection they can use at Nice in France – perhaps a place they can send youngsters on loan to develop.
“So, United will keep an eye on the best young talents around the world, because they feel they had many opportunities in the recent past but lost out. For example, Moises Caicedo was close to joining United years ago when he was still in Ecuador, and he would have cost something like €4-5m.
“Obviously you can’t sign all the best talents and United have done a great job with some of the players in their academy, but they want to keep a special eye on young talents around the world and to use that connection with Nice to their advantage.”
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