Ten Hag breaks his silence on Ratcliffe's £1.3bn investment in Man United
Erik ten Hag hailed the 'positive' completion of Manchester United's partial takeover by INEOS billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe after marking the first match of his tenure with a win against Aston Villa.
Ratcliffe's purchase of a 25 per cent share of the club for £1.3billion was completed on Christmas Eve after months of negotiations and Premier League ratification of the deal in the new year will see the petrochemicals magnate take control of football operations.
But Man United got the unofficial start of Ratcliffe's reign off on the right note with a home victory at Old Trafford overseen by INEOS director of sport Sir Dave Brailsford in the stands for the first time.
After a limp first-half showing which saw the side's woeful goalless run roll on, Ten Hag's players rallied to beat the visitors 3-2 in a late comeback spurred by Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund, with his first Premier League goal.
Ten Hag however was unwilling to connect the sale's resolution with his players' performance on the pitch after the final whistle.
‘I don’t think it has had an impact on the players,' the Dutch manager said. 'For me, I was kept informed in the whole process, so I knew what was going on.
'We're looking forward. I think it is positive for the club that they are stepping in.
‘They (INEOS) have a lot of experience in sport at the highest level: Formula One, a cycling team, football clubs. They can only help us and support us to get our targets.
'They want to work with us and we want to work with them.’
After a thoroughly mixed start to Man United's 2023-24 campaign a question mark continues to loom over exactly how long Ratcliffe and his incoming board of directors will want to work with Ten Hag despite the Boxing Day showing.
Brailsford
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