Marcus Rashford celebrates United's second goal against Everton in a win that got the club off to a good start to the crucial week. : Getty Images/Michael Regan
Manchester United arrives in Istanbul on Tuesday night and the club's future — not just the season — is at a crossroads.
In a huge city where Asia and Europe meet and where the east lies . and the west will collide, it can also quickly turn in opposite directions for the club.
Beating Galatasaray will breathe life into their Champions League campaign, where they currently sit in a disgraceful bottom spot in a group dominated by Bayern Munich and including Copenhagen.
Lose to Turkish champions , as they carelessly did at Old Trafford, and United will face the ignominy of an early exit and likely not even make it to the first Europa League knockout stage. round.
Against this backdrop, Sir Jim Ratcliffe's £1.3 billion investment in the club is expected to finally be announced this week, well more than a year after the launch of the Glazers' strategic review. to get 25 percent of the shares.
It is typical for United that there has been another delay to the deal, partly due to the US Thanksgiving holiday, meaning it is likely to happen now in such an important week.
< p> p>It would obviously make sense if the change, with Ratcliffe taking sporting control of United, had happened during the recent international break. It would be a much smoother operation, even if it remains to be seen how many details will be released when it is actually announced.
And whether that changes the mood. Especially if they are eliminated from the Champions League. United fans at Goodison Park on Sunday continued to express their feelings towards the hated Glazers even during the biggest away win of Erik ten Hag's reign.
Fans are clearly and understandably desperate for the Glazers to make a full recovery. sell and cede full control, but this does not happen. At least not yet. However, it is unlikely that Ratcliffe will agree to such a scale of investment, and at such a price, unless he is confident that increasing United's ownership stake is possible in the near future.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is expected to buy 25 percent of Manchester United and take control of the club's football operations. Photo: John Super for The Telegraph
Just as clubs often wait to appoint a new manager until a more winning match is underway. on the horizon, it would have been more logical for United to stop for a week less important than this, although it would have been a huge relief, starting with a vital win over Everton.
Not really simply vital, but regenerating. It was not only the brilliant overhead kick from 19-year-old Alejandro Garnacho that meant a lot, but also the best performance of 18-year-old Kobby Mainoo on his Premier League debut.
Both were members of the club.
Both were members of the club. FA Youth Cup winning team and will show that United's tradition of bringing in players from their academy remains strong and will certainly be something Ratcliffe will be keen to build on. He has already noted United's profligacy in the transfer market and the number of aging high-paid players they have.
Of course, Ratcliffe and Ineos have a long way to go, but exit from the Champions League would be an immediate blow that would undoubtedly put the roles of Ten Haeg and, of course, director of football John Murtaugh under even greater scrutiny.
Murtaugh wants work with Ineos during the transition period and intends to continue to work on this, but it is expected that a new sporting director and a new chief executive will be hired, and the departure of Richard Arnold has already been announced.
< p>For Ratcliffe this will be to some extent deflation if his investment is talked about as United picks up the pieces of a frankly terrible Champions League campaign.
It will be interesting to see how fans react to Ratcliffe< p>They have now lost three of their four matches and would have already been eliminated if goalkeeper Andre Onana had not saved a last-minute penalty in the 1-0 home win over Copenhagen, where they at the moment they scored their only points.
After Galatasaray they travel to Newcastle United, where the match kicks off at 20:00 at St James' Park. Newcastle may also be licking the wounds of their own Champions League campaign if they lose to Paris Saint-Germain, but they are in a more buoyant state than United and will have more time to prepare and less travel and time differences to cope with the situation. s.
United then face Chelsea next Wednesday in their first home game under new ownership and it will be interesting to see how fans react given many of them not only wanted the Glazers out but Sheikh Jassim in as well. It's probably not the celebration it should be.
United then face Bournemouth at home next Saturday before their final Champions League group stage game, also at home, against Bayern Munich on Tuesday , which could be a big European match. night or wet squib. After that? On Sunday we go to Liverpool.
But now it is this week and the next two games that are important. Ironically, United are the best team in the Premier League, with five wins from their last six matches and just six points off the top of the table, but no one has it.
If they win in Turkey, then on Tyneside — and if this coincides with Ratcliffe's eventual arrival — then it could lead to significant changes not only in dynamics but also in perception. However, if you lose, the situation will turn in the opposite direction and may even lead to liability faster than expected. Ratcliffe won't want to be associated with failure.
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