Manchester United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has insisted that he would leave the Red Devils if he was subjected to the same amount of abuse as the Glazer family.
Since completing an initial 27.7% purchase of the Red Devils from the widely unpopular Glazers in 2023, Ratcliffe's INEOS regime have conducted sweeping changes at Old Trafford, many of which have been met with a negative response.
Ratcliffe has overseen hundreds of staff redundancies as he implements strict cost-cutting measures, having revealed that the club were previously on the brink of breaching the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules.
At the same time, Man United have announced plans to leave Old Trafford and build a new 100,000-seater stadium as part of a regeneration project, which would be a £2bn operation.
Ratcliffe has inevitably been the subject of incessant criticism for laying off hundreds of employees in addition to raising ticket prices, and if the attacks become too much for the 72-year-old, he has not ruled out walking away.
Ratcliffe refuses to rule out leaving Man United
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Speaking to The Times, Ratcliffe said: "I mean, I can put up with it for a while. I don't mind being unpopular because I get that nobody likes seeing Manchester United down where they are, and nobody likes the decisions we're having to make at the moment.
"If I draw a bit of the ire, I can put up with that. But I'm no different to the average person. It's not nice, particularly for friends and family.
"So, eventually, if it reached the extent that the Glazer family have been abused, then I'd have to say, 'look, enough's enough guys, let somebody else do this.'
"They can't really come to a match, the Glazers. They've retreated into the shadows a bit now, so I'm getting all the bloody stick. We bought in and I haven't seen them since. It's, 'Thank you, Jim, you're doing a really good job.'
'At the moment, I don't have security, I don't have to walk around like that. But it would defeat the object, wouldn't it? You couldn't tolerate it at that level, it just wouldn't be fun."
How has it come to this for Man United?
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Man United supporters have conducted numerous vociferous protests against the Glazer family since the Americans assumed full control of the club in 2005, including one before last weekend's 1-1 Premier League draw with Arsenal.
The Red Devils are currently saddled with extortionate debts of over £1bn, including an outstanding £300m in transfer fee payments for the likes of Jadon Sancho, Casemiro, Antony, Rasmus Hojlund, Lisandro Martinez and Andre Onana.
Mistakes have not only been made with playing personnel; Ratcliffe has conceded that he regrets giving Erik ten Hag a stay of execution and not sacking the Dutchman earlier, forcing Ruben Amorim to inherit a group of players who have struggled to adapt to his system.
The Portuguese has only had one transfer window to try to solve some of the squad's problems, but he was not exactly blessed with money in January, only reinforcing his team with the signings of Patrick Dorgu and Ayden Heaven.
Both defenders have made positive impressions, and Amorim is expected to have the funds to buy more players suited to his 3-4-3 shape this summer, but neither he nor Ratcliffe will deny that Man United's 14th-placed standing in the Premier League table is unacceptable.
The Red Devils at least laid down a major Europa League marker by beating Real Sociedad 4-1 in the week, though, and they will earn a ticket to the Champions League if they can triumph in Europe's second-tier tournament.
Ben Knapton
