With Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s 25% stake in Manchester United finally agreed, the football bods, business experts and fans alike are all now wondering what the club will look like under the British billionaire’s regime, but there’s also another important name newly appointed at the helm: Sir Dave Brailsford.
While most of the headlines have naturally revolved around the big-money man and primary deal-maker, who has reportedly spent around £1.3 billion to purchase his chunk of shares and a seat on the Man United board, Dave Brailsford joining the club’s executive team is also hugely significant.
Officially starting in his capacity on United‘s football board on New Year’s Eve 2023, just days after sitting in the stands to watch the Red Devils’ 3-2 comeback against Aston Villa, the 59-year-old has already set about meeting staff, touring the facilities and taking a look under the bonnet, so to speak.
Part of the reason that his arrival is of such interest comes not only as a result of his seniority and proximity as Ratcliffe‘s de-facto right-hand man but because unless you had prior knowledge of his CV or INEOS and their sporting division’s key figures, most people are relatively unaware of who he is.
Sir David John Brailsford CBE is a British sports coach with a long and decorated career in cycling, helping Team GB net a remarkable total of 14 Olympic medals in 2008, taking home eight gold medals for British Cycling at both Beijing and London 2012. He was ultimately knighted for his efforts in 2013.
After this first wave of success, he was then put in charge of the Team Sky cycling team which featured the likes of Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas and went on to win eight Grand Tours before the team name was rebranded as the INEOS Grenadiers in 2019. Short version: they’ve won a lot.
Across both iterations under the ownership of Ratcliffe’s conglomerate (the fourth biggest chemical engineering company in the world, estimated to turnover £50bn a year), Brailsford enjoyed a decade of dominance as Team Principal before being made Director of Sport at INEOS in December 2021.
Sir Dave Brailsford’s background might be predominantly in cycling, but he’s more than dabbled in football since heading up INEOS Sport.
Having been put in charge of all sporting activities including cycling, sailing (INEOS Britannia), football — OGC Nice in France, Swiss side FC Lausanne-Sport and now United) — rugby (All Blacks’ official ‘Performance Partner’) and Formula 1 (co-owner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team), the Derbyshire-born sports performance director is being entrusted with the Premier League project.
What is Braislford’s role at Manchester United?
With United being folded into the existing INEOS Sports portfolio, Brailsford will continue his role across all disciplines and is expected that an outright sporting director will be appointed to oversee the football side of things at Old Trafford, specifically — of which Ratcliffe and co. have been given ‘full control’ of.
Although John Murtough is currently in post and has been since March 2021, it is thought he will depart the club once INEOS takes over, having faced plenty of criticism over Man United’s transfer policy in that time, including an apparent row with Sir Alex Ferguson over failing to sign Jude Bellingham.
Names linked with the job include Dougie Freedman (Crystal Palace), Paul Mitchell, who has worked with the likes of (Spurs, RB Leipzig), as well as Dan Ashworth (Brighton, Newcastle), with some reports suggesting the latter two could come in as sporting director and head of recruitment, respectively.
Either way, whoever is given the job will then report to Brailsford and the business magnate from Failsworth above them, who make up what is effectively being touted as a trio of executive board members strictly tasked with footballing matters. So who makes up the third element of that trifecta?
Who else is taking control of footballing operations at Man United?
Whilst Patrick Stewart (no, not the bloke from Star Trek) has been put in charge on an interim basis following the departure of Richard Arnold, the club is still on the hunt for a new full-time CEO and, for all intents and purposes, that individual looks to be Jean-Claude Blanc.
The French businessman and sports executive is best known for his time serving on the board at both Juventus and PSG — his time in Paris coinciding with the Qatari takeover in 2011 and the start of their Ligue 1 supremacy — but more recently joined Ratcliffe’s ranks and
Being made CEO of INEOS Sports in December 2022, like Brailsford, Blanc has become one of the new United owner’s closest confidants and looks set to be installed as the new CEO imminently.
With the January transfer window now open and the final details of Ratcliffe’s deal soon to be fully ratified by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), the club will be hoping to put all these puzzle pieces in place sooner rather than later.
Once again, full confirmation of all these particulars is still pending and, by the terms of their current agreement, the Glazers could still technically buy out Ratcliffe before he even gets going, so the next few months could prove critical for Manchester United.
Featured Images — Sky Sports/The Manc Group/INEOS (via YouTube)
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Benjamin Šeško quote resurfaces as Manchester United switch sole focus to pursuit of Slovenia star
Danny Jones
Slovenia striker Benjamin Šeško is now considered the primary transfer target for Manchester United for this summer window, as per multiple reports, and with the links only growing stronger as a quote relating to him and former RB Salzburg forward Erling Haaland has cropped back up.
Now on the books at the franchise club’s German counterpart in Leipzig, Šeško is one of the most highly sought-after talents in Europe at present, showing not only huge potential and a unique profile but already some impressive returns when it comes to goal contributions.
Although Haaland is ahead in terms of numbers, they do bear some resemblance in terms of height, physicality and speed for their size, and while they barely came across each other in the Red Bull setup – Šeško being loaned out to fellow Austrian side Liefering – they have drawn plenty of comparisons.
In fact, according to the 22-year-old himself, some feel he might just be “better” than the Norwegian phenomenon. At least that’s what some teammates and former colleagues are claimed to have said.
The retired defensive midfielder elaborated that Šeško was arguably the more natural all-round athlete, detailing that he has always been “smooth with the ball, very good technique, good finishing, and he jumps so high; very, very good with the head – it’s unbelievable.”
Aufhauser went on to add, however: “Erling was mentally a monster and better at the same age. This is the last five, 10 per cent that Benji has to get.”
It was also noted that while the emerging prospect may have just edged out the now fully-fledged Manchester City superstar in some departments at an early age, the big number nine always managed to find the back of the net more often.
He’s certainly kept that up in the years since then…
A 2022 quote from Šeško is all well and good, but Haaland has proved plenty of paper in just a few short years at the Etihad.
It’s also worth noting that the two attackers are not just pretty equally quick in a straight line, but both as tall as each other, clocking in at exactly 6ft 4in, with the Man City man barely three years his senior.
On the other hand, Šeško is known for keeping up multiple sports besides just football (basketball, in particular),
Besides their position, he told Amazon Prime Video Sport that he believes there is a lot of value not just in being sized up against the likes of Haaland but in trying to take cues from other pros in training, having also named a previous Red Devil himself as a key role model: one Zlatan Ibrahimović.
Most of this talk probably sounds all well and good to most United fans, but another key stumbling block in terms of a move for the budding young goalscorer is RB Leipzig’s supposed asking price, as the Bundesliga outfit is said to value him in the region of £70m.
Nevertheless, The Athletic now writes that INEOS and head coach Ruben Amorim are now solely focused on trying to sign Šeško, having previously narrowed it down to him and Premier League-proven Ollie Watkins.
Even if they get it done, the question is, will the confident forward suit English football as much as Watkins or dare we say Haaland – and furthermore, if they do, what might this mean for Manchester United’s current centre forwards?
Ruben Amorim and Rasmus Højlund both make stances clear on forward’s future at Man United
Danny Jones
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim and striker Rasmus Højlund have both made their stances clear when it comes to the forward’s future, with question marks looming over whether or not he will stay at the club this season.
The Danish international opened the scoring in the Red Devils’ third pre-season fixture on their current US tour as they went on to beat Bournemouth 4-1 in their Premier League Summer Series clash.
Adding a glancing nod on the end of the man of the match, Patrick Dorgu’s cross, Højlund headed home the first, but also impressed with some key link-up play in transition, with Amorim arguing that Man United “are playing better because he’s playing better”, despite lingering links with a move away.
Speaking to various media outlets after the full-time whistle, the number nine made his feelings on the somewhat uncertain situation “very clear”, assuring that he wants to remain at Old Trafford and “fight for [his spot] whatever happens.”
Reiterating that he just wants to “keep working hard” and “stay focused” on the job at hand, the ex-Atalanta marksman admitted that the pressure of being the main and sometimes only goal threat when arriving at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’.
Speaking to the BBC’s Simon Stone, he said he “could have done with some help in terms of sharing the games a bit, especially in the beginning”, but went on to reinforce that he is more willing than ever to get stuck in, insisting: “Competition is fine with me, it sharpens me. I’m more than ready.”
The centre-forward, who is still just 22, also believes he’s still learning plenty about how to improve his game, adding, “I think you can see it in my game. I’m starting to develop and become even better in the basics” – something his manager also commented on in his own post-match duties.
Amorim, who is now eight months into the rather big job, told club media in the press conference following the promising victory over the Cherries that he was impressed with both his many others overall play compared to the previous campaign already.
Most importantly for the youngster, as well, although the Portuguese head coach wouldn’t be drawn into question regarding whether Højlund will stay at United or be sold to potentially fund a move for a new striker, he made it plain that he’s more than happy keeping him in his squad.
"I'm really happy with Rasmus, I don't know what is going to happen until the market is closed"
Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim was asked about the future of Rasmus Hojlund if the club bring in a new striker 🔴 pic.twitter.com/C9yLaepGU7
“For me, it’s more than a goal,” said the 40-year-old. “For him, it’s more important the goal, and for the fans maybe […] we need goals, but the way he’s linking the play in this moment, the way he’s fighting for the balls”, paying extra compliment to how he helped “connect” and “support” from midfield to attack.
Elsewhere, INEOS are reportedly looking to bolster their options at the top end of the pitch, having reportedly honed their sights on either one of two main targets, both of whom could potentially lead the line ahead of Ramus and Joshua Zirkzee while the Dane continues to mature.
In fact, Højlund himself was keen to remind his critics that he’s “still very young”, stating: “People forget that sometimes. “I’m only 22. Not every striker scores 100 goals by that age.
You can hear what Amorim, Dorgu and others made of their outing in Chicago HERE and watch the full highlights down below.
Do you think Højlund should/will stay at Manchester United?
Danny Jones -
3rd January 2024 
