Sir Jim Ratcliffe (Manchester United)
March 2025
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has revealed explosive details about Manchester United’s wage structure and player availability, highlighting that half of the club’s top earners have been unavailable under manager Ruben Amorim. He named Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Luke Shaw, and Mason Mount as players earning Premier League top-club wages but not contributing consistently. Ratcliffe warned this would not be tolerated under his ownership.
Ratcliffe said that the salaries of unavailable players amount to nearly half of United’s top payroll, likening it to the wage scale of a mid-table side like Nottingham Forest. With Rashford on £325k/week while on loan, Sancho costing the club half his wages at Chelsea, and Shaw sidelined for extended periods despite a lucrative renewal, Ratcliffe made it clear that future signings will follow stricter financial scrutiny. He also criticized Casemiro’s expensive deal and contrasted it with more sensible structures like Bruno Fernandes’. The club plans to reassess medical practices, reward performance-based contracts (e.g., Mainoo and Garnacho), and avoid bloated wage commitments going forward.