Why Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s deal for Manchester United is still not confirmed

Manchester United are yet to confirm that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is taking a 25% stake in the club, despite the deal feeling that it was completed over a month ago.

It has been over a month since Sheikh Jassim withdrew from the bidding process for Manchester United, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe being left as the only horse in the race to buy the club.

Just days later, news broke that Ratcliffe would be taking a 25% stake in Erik ten Hag‘s club with a few to eventually become majority owner and buy out the Glazer family over the next few years.

Before the win against Luton, it was said that the transaction should be completed over the course of the international break, but with the Euros and World Cup qualifiers having been and gone, there is still no sign of an official announcement.

According to the BBC, Ratcliffe’s deal is not expected to be done by Wednesday (today).

Further to this, because of the public Thanksgiving holidays in the USA, if it is not done by the end of Wednesday, it will be next week at the earliest.

However, despite the deal dragging out, the report explains that there are no issues with it. The process is taking a long time simply because they are just working through the deal.

Ratcliffe is set to take full sporting control of Manchester United once his purchase is completed.

Changes have already been made at the club, with CEO Richard Arnold set to step down from his role at the end of the calendar year, with Jean-Claude Blanc, former PSG executive, set to take his place.

Although there have also been rumours of John Murtough’s job also being on the line, the latest reports have suggested that those within the club do not feel that any immediate change to his role is expected.

Paul Mitchell is the current favourite to join Old Trafford as the new director of football, while Sir David Brailsford is also expected to have a big role in reorganising the club’s sporting structure. Erik ten Hag currently has no threat to his job.