Why Manchester United shouldn't expect fireworks with Sir Jim Ratcliffe in January transfer window

Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought French side OGC Nice in 2019 and he has overseen four January transfer windows in charge of the club.

The winter transfer market is famously tricky to manoeuvre as clubs pay inflated prices in a limited pool of players, but Nice have dipped their toes in the January window during Ratcliffe's time on the French Riviera.

Ratcliffe is set to acquire a 25 per cent stake at Manchester United in the coming days and although he's set to operate differently at Old Trafford than he's done at Nice, his work there provides clues for the future.

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Nice have 10 signed players across the four January windows that Ratcliffe has overseen, but they've only signed two of those, Youssouf Ndayishimiye and Billal Brahim, on permanent deals for a combined €18.5million.

The €11.5m spent on Ndayishimiye earlier this year represented a decent investment from a Ligue 1 side in the winter window and the midfielder has started all but one game for Nice, who are third in the table, this season.

With the exception of signing Ndayishimiye and Brahim, Nice's policy in January under INEOS has been to make use of the loan market and they have signed eight players on temporary deals, with varying success.

The January window in 2021 is the clear standout because William Saliba and Jean-Clair Todibo arrived from Arsenal and Barcelona respectively and those two defenders are now regarded among Europe's best.

Saliba spent six months with Nice and another full season in the division with Marseille before eventually returning to Arsenal, where he's established himself as one of the Premier League's most reliable centre-backs.

Nice