Sir Jim Ratcliffe swears he is not trying to make money from Man United

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has promised fans that he is not trying to make money out of Manchester United and wants the club to be ‘ruthlessly focussed’ on bringing the glory days back to Old Trafford.

Ratcliffe met with members of the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust and the Fans’ Advisory Board for the first time in the Ambassador Suite at Old Trafford on Monday, 24 hours after attending his first match since a £1.3billion investment was confirmed before Christmas. He also held a video conference with the larger Fans’ Forum.

The 71-year-old, who was accompanied by his Ineos sporting director Sir Dave Brailsford and chief executive Jean-Claude Blanc, as well senior United officials, is keen to engage with fans who have grown disillusioned after 18 years of turbulent ownership under the Glazer family.

While the Glazers have become deeply unpopular for draining more than £1billion out of United since their leveraged buyout in 2005, Ratcliffe reassured the fan groups on Monday that his overriding ambition after buying 29 per cent of the club is success on the pitch.

A statement from MUST read: ‘His main message was that everything at United needs to be ruthlessly focussed on creating winning teams on the field.

‘He views our club as a community asset and stressed that his purpose in taking a share in United is not to make money.’

Those present on Monday were struck by how Ratcliffe and Brailsford continually brought the conversation back to the importance of a winning team.

‘There was a laser-like focus on winning on the field,’ said one representative.

'He started the meeting by saying: “So let’s be clear what I’m here for: I’m not here to make money. I make plenty of it from my day job. It’s not what this is about”.

‘There’s never