Man Utd face Champions League expulsion as report reveals shocking new Sir Jim Ratcliffe update

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is buying a £1.4bn share of Manchester United

Manchester United are reportedly facing up to the possibility of being banned from participating in next season’s Champions League as more details emerged of the multi-club suspension that UEFA may impose on Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

The Red Devils were put up for sale just over a year ago when the much-disliked Glazers decided to either sell their entire stake or bring in an investor who could help share the financial burden. And while supporters did not get the full-scale removal of the Glazers they were hoping for, Ratcliffe’s 25% purchase into Manchester United promises a bright new era at least.

The British billionaire is yet to see his part-ownership of the club made official – confirmation is now expected to arive next week with the United States set to shut down for a few days over Thanksgiving – though that has not stopped Ratcliffe from immediately getting to work.

First up, he plans multiple changes behind the scenes. Chief executive Richard Arnold has already departed, while doubts are also emerging over the futures of both football director John Murtough and football operations officer David Harrison.

To that end, Ratcliffe will be given a hands-on role of overseeing all United’s transfer incomings and outgoings. As a result, he wants his own men at the helm, with a new favourite for the role of United sporting director emerging and with the club set to move Murtough into a new role.

However, United’s playing squad and transfer business will be at the very top of Ratcliffe’s agenda.

And he plans to overhaul both the department that oversees that side of the business, as well as a number of the club’s top stars.

Man Utd face Champions League suspension

With that regard, Ratcliffe has reportedly been critical of the club behind the scenes, feels United have either overpaid for, or have players on their books, who are already past their best.

Casemiro – and the £70m paid to Real Madrid for the ageing Brazilian in summer 2022 – appears to have been earmarked as the prime example.

However, despite making the sort of waves many supporters feel United have long since needed, it is not all sweetness and light under the 71-year-old.

Indeed, having touched upon the subject before his £1.4bn investment into the club became official, The Sun now claims United face being excluded from competing in next season’s Champions League competition as a result of their multi-club ownership rules.

That’s because the British tycoon and his holdings company INEOS already owns Nice. And with the French Rivieia club riding high in Ligue 1, they too have hopes of qualifying for next season’s UCL competition.

So far this season, Francesco Farioli’s side are unbeaten, having won seven and drawn five of their opening 12 games. Currently sat a point point reigning champions PSG, hopes are burning bright they can secure qualification for the Champions League for the first time in their history.

The Sun states that UEFA’s ruling means that, were United to qualify alongside the French side, then the team who finishes highest will be granted admission, whereby the other club, under the same umbrella, would not be allowed to participate.

So, for example, were United to finish fourth and Nice to finish first, second or third in Ligue 1, then it is the French side who would gain entry.

UEFA may force Man Utd to take part in Conference League

Were the teams to finish in the same position – both third for example – United would get the nod owing to the Premier League’s higher coefficient in UEFA’s rankings system.

Per the report, finishing lower than Nice could make life even more awkward for United too, with the club also being blocked from competing in UEFA’s second competition, the Europa League.

But they would be allowed entry into their third-tier tournament, the UEFA Conference League, which West Ham proudly won last season.

Such a scenario would see the alarm bells ringing for United chiefs.

That possibility has already been considered by the always-thinking Gary Neville, who actually questioned UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin on the prospects of United being excluded on his The Overlap YouTube channel earlier this year.

And Cerefin assured the pundit and United fan that UEFA could yet explore a possible relaxation of the rule.

Ceferin said: “We are not thinking about Manchester United only.

“We’ve had five or six owners of clubs who want to buy another club. We have to see what to do.

“The options are that it stays like that or that we allow them to play in the same competition. I’m not sure yet.

“We have to speak about these regulations and see what to do about it. There is more and more interest in this multi-club ownership.

“We shouldn’t just say no for the investments for multi-club ownership, but we have to see what kind of rules we set in that case because the rules have to be strict.

“From one point of view it’s true if you are the owner of two clubs and they play in the same competition you can say to one club to lose because you want the other to win.

“But for you, as a football player, do you think it’s so easy to do that, to tell a coach, lose the match because the other wants to win?”

The situation could also impact Manchester City and Girona – currently top of the Premier League and LaLiga, for example – with both sides owned by the City Football Group.

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