Man Utd given stark Ratcliffe warning as Nice captain LASHES OUT at transfer mistakes

Robin Bairner

• 22 May 2023 10:53 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United fans hoping that a takeover from Sir Jim Ratcliffe might mark an immediate end to their years of mismanagement would do well to heed the words of Nice captain Dante, who slammed the running of the Ligue 1 club.

Ratcliffe’s INEOS group are one of two major bidders seeking to buy Man Utd from the Glazer brothers and have had significant support from the fanbase who are eager for a chance at the top of the club. He was also interested in buying Chelsea last year.

But United fans would do well to heed the words of warning coming from France over the Englishman’s running of the club.

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Ratcliffe has owned Nice since August 2019 through INEOS. Although it has provided the Cote d’Azur side the means to compete at the top end of the French top-flight, they instead find themselves a disappointing ninth with no chance of European football.

At the weekend, they were held to a frustrating scoreless draw against Toulouse at home.

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Former Brazil international centre-back Dante, who won the 2012/13 Champions League with Bayern Munich, hit out at the transfer policy of the club.

“The best thing to do is to make a strong team as soon as possible to start the season well,” he said. “This season, we know very well, on the last day of the summer transfer window there are six or seven players who left and six who arrived. It is complicated. We can’t make the same mistakes.”

Broken Champions League promises

Dante said that the leadership of the club do not properly “respect” Ligue 1.

“When Lucien Favre arrived, we were told: ‘In two or three years, we’ll be consistently in the Champions League,’” he said. “But it’s not like that.

“Ligue 1 is very difficult. You have to respect it. And if you’re going to lose 10 players and there are 10 new signings, it’s very difficult.

“The teams that are there, in the semi-finals of major competitions, have been playing together for three or four years. We have just changed 10 players and we will develop easily? It's not that. There is a lack of clarity. I'm sorry.”

Among the clubs above Nice in the standings at present, are Clermont, who have only ever signed two players for cash, and Lens, who have pushed the title race into the last two weeks, despite meagre resources compared to PSG.

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