Sir Jim Ratcliffe echoes iconic Sir Alex Ferguson quote as new Man Utd chief vows to ‘knock enemies off their perch’
SIR Jim Ratcliffe has vowed to knock Manchester City and Liverpool “off their perch” to reclaim English football’s bragging rights.
But the new Old Trafford boss warned desperate Manchester United fans they may have to wait up to three years to see the club back where it expects to be.
Speaking for the first time since completing his £1.3bn purchase of a 27 per cent stake in the club, which includes control of football affairs, petro-chemicals magnate Ratcliffe gave a remarkable insight into his ambitions and thoughts.
That included a potential way back for bad boy pair Mason Greenwood and Jadon Sancho, although no final decision has been made on either player.
Sir Jim also suggested his preferred option would be a new £2bn replacement stadium for Old Trafford, although rebuilding the club’s 114-year-old home is still on the agenda.
But it was his on-field aims that will spark the biggest response from United fans as Ratcliffe deliberately referenced two of Sir Alex Ferguson’s most famous quotes.
He said: “We have a lot to learn from our noisy neighbour – and the other neighbour.
“They are the enemy at the end of the day. There is nothing I would like better than to knock both of them off their perch.
“I know that Sir Alex was the first one who came out with that expression. I am in the same place as Alex – 100 per cent. He was fiercely competitive and that is why he was successful. We have to be the same.
“But they have been in a good place for a while and there are things we can learn from both of them.
HOW TO GET FREE BETS ON FOOTBALL
“They have sensible organisations, great people within the organisations, a good, driven and elite environment that they work in. I am very respectful of them but they are still the enemy.”
Asked how long it might take for United to return to that elite level, Ratcliffe added: “It’s not a light switch, not one of these things that changes overnight.
“So it’s not a 10-year plan. The fans would run out of patience if it was a 10-year plan.
“To think that we’re going to be playing football as good as Manchester City played against Real Madrid last year by next season is not sensible.
“And if we give people false expectations, then they will get disappointed.
“But it’s certainly a three year plan to get there. The key thing is our trajectory, so that people can see that we’re making progress.”
In 2002 former Liverpool star Alan Hansen claimed that Ferguson was facing “the greatest challenge of his career”.
Sir Alex fired back: “My greatest challenge is not what’s happening at the moment. My greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their f***ing perch. And you can print that.”
And in 2009 Ferguson was keen to put a resurgent Man City back in their place.
He said: “Sometimes you have a noisy neighbour. You cannot do anything about that. They will always be noisy.
“You just have to get on with your life, put your television on and turn it up a bit louder.”
MAN UTD NEWS LIVE: All the latest news from Old Trafford