Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s message to Graeme Souness could be ominous for Man Utd fans

Graeme Souness claimed Manchester United chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe once told him he has no intention of spending years developing a new club.

Ratcliffe, aged 71, has been revamping the Red Devils' structure since he finalised his 27.7% minority takeover in February. He has already appointed former City Football Group head of football operations Omar Berrada as the club's new chief executive, and also recruited ex-Southampton director of football Jason Wilcox as the new technical director.

The alterations at the boardroom level are aimed at enhancing United's standing in the long run. However, Souness alleges Ratcliffe said in a previous conversation he does not wish to spend a lengthy period building a football club.

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While speaking to Up Front with Simon Jordan, the Liverpool icon said: "Jim Ratcliffe is a year older than me, I think he is 71 now. This [United] isn't a quick fix. I had a meeting with him, he asked to see me about buying a football club. I think he was about 66 at the time."

"I can vividly remember him saying: 'I haven't got time to buy a club and develop it'. He was talking about Fulham and he had a season ticket at Chelsea. I said: 'Chelsea, maybe buy that? ' He did say: 'Fulham, it's a project, it's not going to happen overnight'. He said: "I don't have that amount of time'," reports the Mirror.

United's Adidas home shirt is made up of the same colour of the city's iconic red rose and features a black collar. The collar also features a dash of both red and white, giving it a slick and modernised look.

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