Sir Jim Ratcliffe is risking hypocrisy at Man United with Ruben Amorim contract clause

“We’ve got more accountants than we’ve got sporting people at Manchester United,” a bewildered Sir Jim Ratcliffe told Bloomberg in June.

They have been busy at work since his arrival. United published their latest financial figures published in September, which showed the club received record revenue of £661.8million but made a loss of £113.2m for the year ending June 30.

United are nevertheless confident they will avoid any sanctions. The money magnet that is the Premier League and the presence of its Profit & Sustainability Rules [PSR] has encouraged an influx of financial clerks into English football on a growing scale.

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A source at a well-known financial accountancy firm says its football department is ‘oversubscribed’ with employees wishing to venture into the sector. And all the while, football legislation is being forced to change thanks to the work of lawyers in recent and ongoing hearing battles.

“If you’re not careful, the Premier League is going to finish up spending more time in court than it is thinking about what’s good for the league,” Ratcliffe added. He has been on a cost-saving exercise since becoming co-owner to make United more self-sufficient and ensure rules are not breached.

Not all of his early decisions en route to this north star have been popular. Ratcliffe has axed 250 staff jobs and has told Sir Alex Ferguson that he will be stood down from his ambassadorial role at the end of the season - a move blasted by Paul Scholes as “distasteful”.

The appointment of Dan Ashworth as sporting director and sacking of Erik ten Hag as manager were both more warmly accepted. Both have been costly decisions.

United ended up paying out £10m to Newcastle United for Ashworth while Ten Hag is owed around £17m in dismissal compensation. It’s not known exactly how much was shelled out to Southampton for technical director Jason Wilcox.

These fees will contribute towards United’s spending within PSR, which only permits a £105m loss of cash over a three-year period. And now, the club will fork out £8.3m for Ruben Amorim as per the terms of his Sporting CP contract.

Few will refer back to the figure should Amorim hit the ground running upon assuming his role of head coach. Many may argue that it is a price worth paying for the radical change that is hoped from his appointment, and maybe so.

But the decision to axe the 250 jobs and Ferguson’s ambassadorial wage risks Ratcliffe looking a hypocrite in the face of a £25m spend to replace Ten Hag with Amorim.

On the day the aforementioned latest financial figures were released, CEO Omar Berrada insisted: “We are working towards greater financial sustainability and making changes to our operations to make them more efficient, to ensure we are directing our resources to enhancing on-pitch performance.”

It’s questionable whether the money shelled out to those employees and Ferguson would have cost as much as the £25m spent on sacking Ten Hag and hiring Amorim. It’s also questionable whether this spending lends itself to “greater financial sustainability”, in the short term at least.

Ten Hag was handed a contract extension just four months ago, without which United would have surely saved millions in sacking compensation. United can rightfully refer to Berrada’s comments regarding “enhancing on-pitch performance” to justify their managerial turnover.

But you could hardly blame the redundant employees and Ferguson should they raise questions over Ineos’ reasons behind their withdrawals. If United continue to falter on the pitch and club accountants file another cash-loss financial report next year, those people may cry injustice.