Sir Jim Ratcliffe names five Man Utd players who are ‘overpaid’ including £86m flop | Football

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has named five Manchester United players who are ‘overpaid’ after mistakes in recent transfer windows, including £86m flop Antony.

Ratcliffe became minority owner of United in February 2024 and is now in charge of the club’s football operations, taking over from the Glazer family.

The INEOS chief has opened up about various errors the Red Devils have made, while he has also defended struggling star Joshua Zirkzee.

In an attack on United’s recruitment policy, Ratcliffe has singled out deals for Antony, Rasmus Hojlund, Andre Onana, Jadon Sancho and Casemiro.

United paid £72m for striker Hojlund, while they splashed out £47.2m on goalkeeper Onana and recruited winger Sancho in a deal worth £73m.

Casemiro, meanwhile, joined United from Real Madrid with United paying out £70m to bring in the Brazilian midfielder in the summer of 2022.

‘f you look at the players we are buying this summer, that we didn’t buy, we’re buying Antony, we’re buying Casemiro, we’re buying Onana, we’re buying Hojlund, we’re buying Sancho,’ Ratcliffe told BBC Sport.

‘These are all things from the past, whether we like it or not, we’ve inherited those things and have to sort that out.’

The British billionaire has revealed that United still owe payments on some players who the club signed before he became part-owner last year, including £17m for Sancho, who is currently on loan at Chelsea.

‘For Sancho, who now plays for Chelsea and we pay half his wages, we’re paying £17m to buy him in the summer,’ Ratcliffe said.

The five players Ratcliffe mentioned have all received criticism since their respective moves to Old Trafford, with United striker Hojlund widely slammed in recent weeks by supporters and pundits.

Hojlund, who joined United from Italian club Atalanta, has only managed to produce two goals across 23 Premier League games so far this season.

Onana, meanwhile, recruited from Inter Milan, has made a number of high-profile mistakes since replacing David de Gea as United’s No.1 ‘keeper.

Antony struggled so badly that United decided to ship him out on loan to Real Betis in the recent January transfer window with Sancho also allowed to depart.

Casemiro has attracted plenty of criticism too, with Jamie Carragher suggesting he should be playing in Major League Soccer or the Saudi Pro League earlier this year.

‘It takes time for us to move away from the past into a new place in the future,’ Ratcliffe added.

‘Some are not good enough and some probably are overpaid, but for us to mould the squad that we are fully responsible for, and accountable for, will take time.

‘We’ve got this period of transformation where we move from the past to the future. There are some great players in the squad as we know, the captain is a fabulous footballer. We definitely need Bruno [Fernandes], he’s a fantastic footballer.’

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