'I am on exactly the same page as Sir Alex Ferguson'

BBC Sport Editor Dan Roan has spoken exclusively to Sir Jim Ratcliffe following the completion of his investment in Manchester United. Here are a selection of answers from the interview:

How would you describe the scale of the challenge facing you?

"It has clearly been a difficult 11 years since Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill retired. It’s not switching a light switch, not just about a new coach or a simple short-term fix. We have to walk to the right solution not run to the wrong one. Short term issue is we want to get into the Champions League for FFP. Real challenge is it’s a two-to-three season challenge to get the organisation and environment right to get the performances on the field right and winning football matches. That involves the organisation, the design and structure of the organisation being correct. At the moment the coach reports to the CEO – that doesn’t make any sense. You need to populate the organisation, you need to invest in class. It will be a very exciting challenge and it will attract the best people in the world in my view.

"We have to find the best people in the world, ensure they have right character and personality to work positively in the structure – we don’t want disruptors or egos. And then create the right environment for elite sportspeople to be successful, all we’re doing here is trying to drive performance on the pitch. It will be intense from time to time but equally it needs to friendly, supportive, you need to create a combination of the organisation, right people, right environment, and then my belief is the results follow. If you look at United today it doesn’t tick all of those boxes."

How would you describe the Glazers and how they've run Manchester United up to this point?

"I only know Joel and Avram and they are, despite what you might read in the press, very nice people, very courteous and they are avid supporters of Manchester United believe it or not. They are nice people and nice partners to have in this project going forward.

"They obviously were very successful before Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill retired. But they have never filled the gap after. There are stadium issues but they have been generous with the cheque book. For whatever reason it hasn’t worked on the field but there are some quite complicated reasons for that."

There's competition everywhere, how would you put it?

"I am on exactly the same page as Sir Alex Ferguson, I want to knock them all off their perch. Alex was a very driven individual. We are friends in the sense we’re all in the north west but they are our biggest enemies. They are clearly our biggest competitors in the UK. Absolutely, that’s what we’re there for."

How far behind are you to them (Manchester City and Liverpool)?

"A long way behind. We are. It’s not going to change tomorrow. People unfortunately need to give us time to get back. It will be two-to-three seasons, I think it would be silly to think by next season.

"It takes time. Patience is needed. We need to walk to the right solutions not run to the wrong solutions. Spending money lavishly in the summer is not the solution, much more complicated than that."