SIR JIM RATCLIFFE has sent three Manchester United wonderkids to train with another Ineos club.
The British billionaire acquired a 27.7 per cent stake in the Red Devils last December.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has sent three academy players to another club he runs[/caption]
Habeeb Ogunneye is one of those selected to go[/caption]
Defender Jack Kingdon has gone after leading the Under-18s to glory last season[/caption]
Ethan Williams got the nod after a fine season in front of goal last term[/caption]
Ratcliffe and his chiefs are now in charge of football operations at Old Trafford.
Ad they have made the decision to send three highly-rated youngsters to Lausanne.
The Ineos group also run the Swiss club.
Habeeb Ogunneye, Jack Kingdon and Ethan Williams travelled there today and will be involved in first-team training sessions.
The rarely-seen move is a “reward” for the 18-year-old trio and will help their development, claim the Manchester Evening News.
Ogunneye has been on the bench for seven Premier League games but is still waiting for his debut.
The right-back has caught the eye for the Under-21s this term.
Kingdon signed his first pro contract in the summer and has previously trained with United‘s first-team.
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The defender is captain of last season’s Under-18s Treble-winning side.
And as for Williams, he scored 17 goals and grabbed nine assists for the young champions and he has also mixed with the senior squad before.
Lausanne were acquired by Ratcliffe in 2017 and they currently sit tenth in the Swiss Super League.
French side Nice are also in his football portfolio.
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THIS is a mid-table squad at an underachieving club, with a lot of unwanted players on big money.
And Ratcliffe is an instinctive cost-cutter who may not pay top dollar to the next manager.
If this club wasn’t called ‘Manchester United’, it wouldn’t be an especially desirable job.
The good news for United is that their new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, is a very decent judge of a manager.
He has been instrumental in three previous managerial appointments — Gareth Southgate for England, Graham Potter for Brighton and Eddie Howe for Newcastle.
None were wildly popular at the time, all were conspicuous successes.
Interestingly, Ashworth’s No 1 choice for the Newcastle job was Unai Emery, who turned him down to stay at Villarreal but has since proved that judgment right by excelling at Aston Villa.
Emery may well deliver the coup de grace to Ten Hag on Sunday — especially with Bruno Fernandes suspended and Kobbie Mainoo an injury doubt.
And the Spaniard would be an excellent fit for United — yet there is next to no chance that he would abandon Villa’s Champions League campaign to take the Old Trafford job, not least because he isn’t a stark raving madman.
Howe would be another good candidate to succeed Ten Hag but, although he has become frustrated on Tyneside, the Saudis would surely not allow Ratcliffe to poach Howe, as they reluctantly did with Ashworth.
Potter is available but his Chelsea experience and lack of charisma would make him a tough sell.
Which brings us to Southgate, who remains close with Ashworth and is an excellent man-manager who was seriously considered by United last spring.
Yet, despite having led England to two of their three major finals, Southgate’s reputation for over-caution was only enhanced during the Euros.
Mauricio Pochettino, passed over twice by United, is out of the equation having taken the United States job.
Thomas Tuchel would be a popular and gettable option but, despite being a fine coach and a very engaging man, he is considered something of a loose cannon.
Likewise, Roberto De Zerbi, now at Marseille after his brief Brighton stint sparkled then fizzled out.
Kieran McKenna — a gifted former United coach who has won back-to-back promotions with Ipswich Town — is an intriguing candidate but the imminent vacancy may come a year or so too soon.
Marco Silva, the extremely under-rated Fulham boss, has been on United’s radar and should not be discounted.
Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, last season’s ‘next big thing’, was passed over by West Ham as well as Liverpool this summer and is not an easy man to pin down.
Zinedine Zidane, who has taken over from Alan Curbishley as a 20-1 shot for every Premier League job, is a ‘figurehead’ manager and not an Ashworth type.
Ruud van Nistelrooy, the former United goal machine who joined Ten Hag’s coaching team in the summer is the bookies’ favourite. Simply because he’s in the building and he’s Dutch.
So, yes, getting rid of Ten Hag is the easy part.
