According to reports, Manchester United staff are ‘dreading even more savage cuts’ if Ruben Amorim’s side lose to Spurs in the Europa League final.
Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has quickly become an incredibly unpopular figure at Old Trafford as he’s been slammed for sanctioning a huge cost-cutting programme.
The INEOS chief inherited a mess when he completed his minority takeover of the Premier League giants at the end of 2024. He only purchased a 25% stake for around £1.25bn, but he took control of footballing matters at Old Trafford.
Ratcliffe felt it was necessary to drastically cut costs to balance the books at Man Utd, but certain decisions have been considered heartless as morale at Old Trafford has declined.
The British billionaire has sanctioned mass redundancies, cut benefits to club legends, scrapped free lunches for staff and hiked ticket prices.
Now, Ratcliffe is refusing to pay for staff to attend next week’s Europa League final and head coach Amorim has shown him up with a classy gesture, as he’s going to pay for 30 backroom team members and their families to go to the match.
Despite this, a report from The Sun claims there is still a feeling of ‘dread’ at Man Utd as staff ‘fear defeat in the Europa League final will cost them their jobs’.
United ‘face huge financial implications if they fail to win the Europa League’ as a loss ‘would cost United at least £100million in revenue from failure to qualify for the Champions League and leave them without any European football’.
The report adds:
‘Staff are already fearing the final, with 150-200 facing the chop as part of the current redundancy process — after 250 were let go last summer.
‘Staff reeling from the savage cuts under new part-owners Ineos are dreading even more bad news if United are beaten in Bilbao.’
A ‘United source’ for The Sun has also pointed out that there is a “horrible” feeling at Man Utd.
They said: “People say the environment is horrible to work in. Everyone is dispirited and looking over their shoulder.
“There’s no enthusiasm. I can’t imagine what it would be like if they don’t beat Spurs.”
Earlier this week, presenter Richard Keys blasted Ratcliffe, saying he become him “Jim Reaper”.
‘United are hopeless. Embarrassing. They’re still going backwards,’ Keys wrote.
‘The Jim Reaper has ripped the heart out of the club – inflicting damage and hurt from top to bottom, whilst making one bad decision after another and it’s coming back to bite him and the brains trust.
‘Amorim realised he’d walked into a mess pretty quickly after arriving at OT. He knows it’s not going to get better any time soon. He’s not working for football people. He’s working for accountants and stats men, who don’t understand what he wants or needs. I’m not convinced some even care.