Ratcliffe's Ineos considering further Man Utd redundancies

Ratcliffe warned in December that Manchester United had become "mediocre" and more "difficult and unpopular decisions" would need to be taken

Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is considering further redundancies at the club.

Senior sources confirmed the club are looking at further cost-cutting options with United losing almost £300m over the past three years, described as "unsustainable" by one insider.

United have not denied reports suggesting co-owners Ineos Group, which is chaired by Ratcliffe, is weighing up making between 100 and 200 redundancies.

Details of how many staff will go, and when and which departments will be affected, are still to be decided and a final decision is expected to be made within a fortnight.

United may also close their London office in Kensington, although club officials are adamant they will maintain a presence in the capital to market and sell to global partners.

Ineos has already made cuts including 250 staff redundancies, removing Sir Alex Ferguson's status as a paid ambassador, and ending the policy of free travel for staff to attend finals.

The argument is that money saved can be ploughed back into the first team, and the club estimated the last round of redundancies would save around £45m per year.

In a separate move, long-serving head of team operations Jackie Kay, who has been with United for almost 30 years, will leave the club.

In December, Ratcliffe warned more "difficult and unpopular decisions" would be taken to get the club to where he wants it to be.

Numerous Old Trafford staff members, including some who have already been made redundant, accept the club was 'bloated' in personnel terms. However, the scale of the cuts has shocked and angered many.

Sources say Ratcliffe has already injected £300m to help pay for extensive improvements to United's Carrington training ground and on planning for a potential new stadium.

Ratcliffe is still to decide whether to give the green light to a new ground, which would likely cost in excess of £2bn, or rebuild Old Trafford, which could cost £1.5bn.

United's latest accounts showed they reported a net loss of £113.2m in the year to 30 June 2024.

It follows losses of £28.7m in 2022-23 and £115.5m in 2021-22, with total losses across the past five years exceeding £370m.

When the London office opened in 2010, commercial revenues were £81.4m and they have risen to £302.9m in the latest figures for 2024.

However, along with many top-flight clubs, there is an acknowledgement that as broadcasting revenues stall, a different way of generating income to spend on the first team must be found.

Ineos' 12 months at Old Trafford

Amorim has won just 10 of his 20 games in charge since he was appointed in November

Ineos completed a deal worth about $1.6bn (£1.25bn) for a stake in Manchester United in February 2024.

After Ratcliffe's investment was confirmed, Ineos took over football operations at Old Trafford and quickly began a restructure with Dan Ashworth appointed sporting director, Omar Berrada as the new chief executive and Jason Wilcox as technical director.

In June, Ineos opted to keep Erik ten Hag as manager but then sacked him, at a cost of £10.4m in compensation.

United paid Sporting £11m to bring in coach Ruben Amorim as Ten Hag's replacement in November. The Portuguese has won 10 and lost eight of his 20 games in charge.

The club also paid £3m in compensation to Newcastle for Ashworth, but announced his departure in December after five months in the job.

Ineos and Ratcliffe have also been criticised for raising matchday ticket prices to £66 per game, with no concessions for children or pensioners.

The club are struggling on the pitch, sitting in 13th place in the Premier League, 27 points behind leaders Liverpool and 14 points off the top four.

They are however through to the FA Cup fifth round and last 16 of the Europa League.

In their two transfer windows in charge Ineos has spent over £200m on players, and overseen the departure of midfielder Scott McTominay to Napoli and Marcus Rashford on loan to Aston Villa.

Big money signings Jadon Sancho and Antony have also been loaned out.

United is part of Ineos' sporting portfolio, which includes ownership of Swiss football club FC Lausanne-Sport and French side Nice. It is also a co-owner of F1 team Mercedes and runs the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team.

It had included the sponsorship of New Zealand Rugby, but on Tuesday it was revealed the British petrochemical firm was facing legal action from the governing body for an alleged breach of their agreement after walking away from the deal three years early.

In response, Ineos blamed "cost-saving measures" across its business, citing the struggling chemicals industry in Europe because of "high energy taxes and extreme carbon taxes", along with "the deindustrialisation of Europe".

Last month, Ineos parted ways with four-time Olympic champion Ben Ainslie, having backed the Britannia America's Cup sailing team since 2018.