Sack Ten Hag? Sancho - save or sell? Ratcliffe's £1.3bn in-tray at Man United

Now the tortuous deal has finally been completed for Sir Jim Ratcliffe to invest £1.3billion in Manchester United and take over football operations at Old Trafford, the INEOS owner can get down to work.

It won't be formally ratified until February, but Ratcliffe's influence will be felt sooner than that after he purchased a 25 per cent stake in United.

Mail Sport looks at the key issues facing the 71-year-old billionaire as he tries to revive his boyhood club.

The feeling around United is that the current regime have been reluctant to take any drastic action over manager Erik ten Hag and are more likely to hand that decision on to Ratcliffe and his INEOS team. Now the investment has been announced, that safety net is being removed.

Ratcliffe, who has gone through five permanent coaches in three years at one of his other clubs, Nice, has no particular loyalty to Ten Hag and will have watched a turbulent start to the season with alarm.

United have lost half of their 26 games, gone out of Europe after finishing bottom of their Champions League group and scored fewer goals than any other Premier League team besides Sheffield United.

Ten Hag's position will come into sharper focus now, and if results don't improve it's hard to see him keeping his job.

INEOS sporting director Sir Dave Brailsford and chief executive Jean-Claude Blanc are expected to join United's football club board as part of the deal, but one of the key appointments will be a new football director.

John Murtough is set to move aside and could well be offered a different role in the new set-up.

Dan Ashworth is a leading contender to replace him, although United would have to buy the 52-year-old out of his contract at Newcastle.

Improving recruitment will be central to