Manchester United minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe has warned that there will be more “difficult and unpopular decisions” to come for a team which he labelled “mediocre”.

The British billionaire paid £1.25bn for a 27.7% stake in the historic club at the end of last year. While this fee was considerably above market value, Ratcliffe and his fleet of INEOS executive have sporting control over the Premier League’s fallen giants.

Speaking to the United We Stand fanzine before Saturday’s damaging 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest left his team 13th in the top-flight table, Ratcliffe declared: “Manchester United has become mediocre. It is supposed to be one of the best football clubs in the world.

“We have to make some difficult and unpopular decisions. If you shy away from the difficult decisions, then nothing much is going to change.”

Ratcliffe has implemented a series of extreme cost-cutting measures over the past six months. A total of 250 members of non-playing staff have lost their job during this period, while numerous seemingly inexpensive benefits have been stripped back.

The club posted staggering losses of £113.2m over the 2023/24 campaign, prompting fears over a potential breach of the Premier League’s strict profit and sustainability regulations. However, the club claimed to be “on track” for their financial goals when the accounts from the first three months of 2024/25 were released.

Ratcliffe continued: “I know we get criticism in the press but we do need to challenge the cost of running this club because what I want to be free for us to do is buy really good footballers, not spend so much of the money on infrastructure.

“We can’t run a business at a loss, which is where United have been in the last couple of years. If you are losing money you have to borrow from the bank to pay for the losses. Eventually that becomes unsustainable.”

One of the most contentious decisions made by the new co-owners has been the recent announcement of a rise in season ticket prices.

Britain’s fourth-richest man argued: “I was brought up on a council estate in Manchester. I don’t want to end up in a position where the genuine local fans can’t afford to come, but I do want to optimise the ticketing.

“We need to find a balance – and you can’t be popular all the time either. Here, we are talking about 3% of the tickets. I don’t think it makes sense for a Manchester United ticket to cost less than a ticket to see Fulham.”

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