“Not confident…” Sir Jim Ratcliffe reveals the two biggest Manchester United issues this transfer window

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has explained the two main reasons why he is not totally confident that Manchester United can achieve all their transfer goals this summer.

Manchester United are looking to bolster their squad by signing several new players this summer. Following a difficult season under Erik ten Hag, central defender Jarrad Branthwaite is reportedly one of their top targets.

In the last campaign, the club finished eighth in the Premier League and was eliminated from the Champions League before Christmas. They conceded over eighty goals across all competitions and frequently changed their defensive lineup due to injuries, using more than 30 different combinations in 52 matches during the 2023/24 season while failing to score consistently.

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INEOS, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s team, are currently evaluating potential signings for the 2024 summer transfer window. Reports earlier this week indicated that United have already agreed on personal terms with Branthwaite, meaning they are looking to do business as early as possible.

In a recent interview, Ratcliffe issued a fresh update on what United are currently doing regarding the window and the next steps they wish to take.

“We’re in the middle of that transfer period,” Ratcliffe told Bloomberg. “We’re doing what every other club is doing, which is looking at which are the holes in our squad, and where we want the holes, and what are the possibilities out there in the market for us.

Further, Ratcliffe was then questioned on whether he is confident that they will be able to sign players in the positions needed during the 2024 summer window. In reply, he explained that he is not confident that all of the problems will be solved.

“I’m not confident that we’ll solve all the problems in the first transfer window, no,” he said. “It will take time.”

The British billionaire then explained that there were two main reasons why this is not the case—and that is that neither Omar Berrada nor Dan Ashworth is currently in a position at Old Trafford. Out of Ratcliffe’s desired appointments, only Jason Wilcox has started working at the club as the new technical director.

“Bear in mind from what I was just saying, Omar, Dan, Jason, who are the sort of key pillars of the sports side, they’re not all in place.

“We’ve only got Jason in place, so we’re sort of a bit handicapped in that sense. So, I think we’ll do a fairly good job, but we’re not going to answer all the problems this first season. It will take two or three summer windows to get to a better place.”

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