Sir Ratcliffe arrives at Man Utd for showdown talks with Ten Hag and players

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has arrived at Manchester United and is set to hold talks with under-fire head coach Erik ten Hag among other key figures at Old Trafford.

The INEOS chief, who completed a £1.25 billion purchase of 25 per cent in the club on Christmas Eve, flew into Manchester on his private jet on Tuesday.

He is expected to spend several days in Manchester and will visit Old Trafford, the Carrington training ground and seek to learn the perspectives of staff before making key decisions.

The first team squad have been given Tuesday off but Ratcliffe, 71, will meet Ten Hag, whose future is being called into increasing doubt with the team losing nine of their opening 20 league games and finishing bottom of their Champions League group.

He will also meet with key figures behind the scenes and is expected to greet players later this week.

Ratcliffe and some of his key INEOS colleagues visited United last March while the Glazers were still weighing up a potential complete sale.

INEOS' sporting director Sir Dave Brailsford, has been at United's past two games - the comeback win against Aston Villa on Boxing Day and Saturday's flaccid defeat away to Nottingham Forest.

While INEOS will take over all football operations at the club as part of the deal, they will not officially be able to make key decisions until the Premier League ratify the partial takeover. There are not expected to be any issues in the owners' and directors' test but no official timescale has been provided.

Upon confirmation of the takeover on Christmas Eve, Ratcliffe said in a statement: "We will bring the global knowledge, expertise and talent from the wider INEOS Sport group to help drive further improvement at the Club, while also providing funds intended to