The recent acquisition of a 25% stake in Manchester United by the British "chemical giant" Ratcliffe at a huge cost of 1.3 billion pounds (about 13 billion Hong Kong dollars) has triggered an uproar in the industry. According to the Guardian, the new owner is about to make some drastic changes to the club. The first step is to cut the team's staff, with 300 layoffs planned to free up funds for the introduction of reinforcements.
Ratcliffe has been griping about United's finances for nearly a decade. It is understood he plans to send an audit team to conduct a full review of the team's finances next month, which will see a significant streamlining of the club's structure and staff. United currently employs 1,000 people and Ratcliffe's redundancy plan involves players, coaches and numerous staff, with 300 expected to be affected.
Despite Ratcliffe's promise to invest £237 million (about HK$2.37 billion) in Manchester United, the money will be used mainly to improve training facilities, grounds and other infrastructure, and does not include a transfer budget. In order to utilize the funds more effectively to expand the team's strength and to comply with fair financial regulations, Ratcliffe decided to restructure the existing staff, leading to a lot of managerial middle management into anxiety.
