Sir Jim Ratcliffe is hoping to make a difference at Manchester United. Photo: Telegraph/Jon Super
Back in 2009, with his rising star following Britain's eight cycling gold medals at the Beijing Olympics the previous year, Sir David Brailsford mentioned an impromptu visit to his team's velodrome by another insider. knights for their achievements in sports.
It was Sir Alex Ferguson, who is said to have inspected the Manchester gold medal factory founded by British Cycling. Ferguson was not the only one who then sought out Brailsford, although he was more circumspect than many of the students he acquired during that era. Brailsford is not mentioned in any of the books Ferguson has published since his retirement in 2013. Regardless, making this connection served a purpose for Brailsford. It was a kind of tacit approval that could one day be turned into a job in football.
Fourteen years have passed, and this work is not only available in any club. This is the club Ferguson left ten years ago after becoming Premier League champions. Brailsford will be one of three people brought in to run football operations after 25 per cent of the club is acquired from the Glazers by its boss, Ineos billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Even for United, which has not become the champion of England for ten years, this is a prestigious position.
Ratcliffe and Brailsford have a choice: do they want to run United's football operations themselves, or leave it to someone with a career of experience in buying and selling players — and it can be assumed that it will be the former.
Trading football players is not only great fun, but also one of the most effective modern public relations tools for enhancing the competence of a global audience. You only have to look at Abu Dhabi's mastery of English football and the acquisition of 12 more clubs alongside Manchester City to see what it has done for the emirate's reputation. To such an extent that some even forget how much investment it required.
As with Newcastle United, a smooth run to Champions League qualifying has brought the Saudi Arabian owners to the attention of the club's fans, at least thanks to the due diligence of Sandro Tonali. check aside. On the other hand, the Champions League chaos with Paris Saint-Germain is unlikely to have done wonders for the perceived competence of Qatar's government investment in sport. You could argue that they had to hold a World Cup final to prove otherwise.
For Ratcliffe and Brailsford, football provides an opportunity to succeed on a stage that resonates far more deeply around the world than plastic or even skill on two wheels. It will be very tempting to make the big calls yourself. For Brailsford, who remains an Ineos employee, football is far more lucrative than similar sports.
At its worst, football tends to consider itself unknowable to outsiders. The best, like Ferguson, were always receptive to new ideas. Despite this, many wealthy people have spent fortunes proving that the art of football recruitment is not directly linked to success in other areas.
The smart thing to do would be to build a structure that allows experts to thrive, although experience suggests that aspiring football owners need to burn out once to learn that lesson. A similar scenario can be observed in Chelsea. The club, of course, appointed a host of recruiters, one of whom has already left, but it was co-owner Behdad Eghbali who dominated the business of last summer's blockbuster transfer window.
Liverpool, under Fenway Sports Group, took ownership time Americans. They fired sporting director Damien Comolli after their 2012 victory. Then it was the turn of the transfer committee, which Brendan Rodgers came to regard as the politburo for player trading. The late intervention of Mike Gordon, FSG president, would provide the autonomy and resources to build Jurgen Klopp's great teams of recent years.
Ratcliffe has options if he wants to appoint an athletic director. Admittedly, there doesn't seem to be a single outstanding candidate lined up for the position, but experience tells the Ineos people that there is no more important decision than this in how they shape the club.
Paul Mitchell, who last competed in Monaco, is the favorite, but the big question is how much power that man will be given because without full control, meaningful change will be impossible. If Mitchell or any other candidate is simply managed by Ratcliffe and Brailsford in the same way that Sooty and Sweep's TV careers were handled, then there really is little point. A couple of Ineos can also do it themselves.
Paul Mitchell has played for a number of European clubs. Photo: Getty Images/Pascal Della Zuan
As Ineos Team's sporting director, the results of Brailsford's recruitment to Nice were mixed, to say the least. How much responsibility Brailsford had for each of them is unclear. Last year's summer window saw the signings of Kasper Schmeichel, Ross Barkley and Aaron Ramsey — all of whom have since left. Last October, the club appointed 38-year-old Florent Ghisolfi as sporting director of Lens, the club that won the championship that year. Before Saturday's game with Marseille, Nice were second. It is difficult to say how much power Ghisolfi has.
United is a completely different club than Nice or any other: the attention on it is intense and it will not subside, no matter how long, according to the new owner will need to change the situation. ship around. Staying the course requires a leading athletic director and unwavering faith from those higher up. Ratcliffe and Brailsford recognize this in their own careers. Whether they are ready to leave it to someone else when everyone's attention awaits them is a completely different question.
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