UEFA restrictions of multi-club ownerships “not fair”, says Sir Jim Ratcliffe
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Sir Jim Ratcliffe discussed, among other things, UEFA’s restrictions on multi-club ownerships.
He also referred to INEOS not being able to move a player from Nice to Man United, stating this:
“They’ve said we can sell him to another Premiership club but we can’t sell to Manchester United.
“But that’s not fair on the player and I don’t see what that achieves.”
As quoted by The Telegraph, while he does not mention the player by name, one can easily discern that he is referring to the £40m-rated Nice centre-back, Jean-Clair Todibo.
United are in the market for a Raphaël Varane successor and have been pursuing Todibo for months, especially given the obvious INEOS link.
But that same INEOS link has come back to bite them, as UEFA has stopped them from bringing the player to the UK from Nice because both the Ligue 1 club and United are set to play in the Europa League next season.
United had reportedly already agreed personal terms with Todibo but will now need to pursue other players. The likes of Jarrad Branthwaite and Matthijs de Ligt have also been linked with the Old Trafford club.
Earlier, UEFA were also against allowing both Nice and United to play in the Europa League next season but relented after INEOS agreed to put Nice into a blind trust to circumvent the European football governing body’s restrictions.
What goes around, comes back around
Multi-club ownerships are increasingly becoming ubiquitous, so it’s understandable why the governors of the sport are trying to plug the same loopholes old multi-club networks have been exploiting for decades.
While this may stop clubs from operating the way they used to previously, it will ultimately only give rise to new loopholes.
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The multi-club ownership model is one that is not likely to slow down any time soon. Savvy clubs are already on their way to finding new solutions for the recent clampdowns. United will only need to find their own solutions in time.
