Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe dealt unexpected blow after sporting director decision

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has suffered a blow as his overhaul at Manchester United continues (Image: Matthew Lloyd/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

After taking over Manchester United earlier this year, Sir Jim Ratcliffe is still making changes off the field, but the British billionaire is now encountering challenges.

The news that Nice’s sporting director has asked to leave the team has shocked controlling co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe of Manchester United.

Ratcliffe’s INEOS chemical company allowed him to purchase the Ligue 1 team in 2019, but he has had little luck at the Allianz Riviera. Despite adding Aaron Rasmey and Kasper Schemichel, they finished ninth in the previous season.

Following the discovery that the hiring had been a mistake, Ratcliffe appointed Florent Ghisolfi as sporting director. They’ve had a better season so far, finishing fifth in the French league, which entitles them to the Europa League.

Nice seems to be headed in the right direction, but Ghisolfi is looking to leave. Dan Ashworth is expected to take over as the Red Devils’ sporting director, which is a devastating blow for Ratcliffe, who has just recently succeeded in bringing Jason Wilcox to United as technical director.

Ghisolfi has made the decision to leave Nice in order to join Roma, according to FootMercato. He only joined Nice in October 2022 after having a fruitful time at Lens.

Ghisolfi, however, has already notified the leaders of Nice of his intention to depart and is eager to relocate to Italy. According to reports, the 39-year-old thinks that the project that was assigned to him when he first came to Nice has changed.

Roma has been’seduced’ by his work in recent years, so he will now need to make ‘arrangements’ to facilitate his exit with Ineos. Ratcliffe has been under fire for his lack of success at Nice; in May of last year, Arsenal legend Emmanuel Petit delivered a harsh critique of the player.

Florent Ghisolfi has requested to leave his job as sporting director at Nice, a club Ratcliffe also owns ( Image: Hugo Pfeiffer/Icon Sport)

“I don’t know who makes the decisions since INEOS arrived in Nice,” Petit said to Foot01. I have no idea where they wish to go. I have no idea what they intend to do with this team, especially now that Manchester United is in the rear and we don’t know if they’re going to leave suddenly.

That really is what baffles me. A company like INEOS, with 17,000 employees worldwide and an 80 billion dollar annual revenue, isn’t even competent enough to run a club like Nice at this time and have a well-defined plan.

“When you consider Lens’s Ghisolfi, the best sporting director, who worked wonders on the transfer market for three francs and six pennies. As you can see, he completely disagrees with what we are attempting to force upon him in regards to the extension of specific players, such as Ramsey.

“Who is the decision-maker? Regarding the affairs, Mr. Rivère, Mr. Ratcliffe, and Mr. Blanc have been mute for the past few weeks. “You’ll see, we’ll give you the name of the future coach in February,” he informed us in February.

“At the end of May, with the market approaching swiftly, we still don’t know what will happen at Nice. I’m not sure where INEOS and OGC Nice want to go with this.”