Prior to INEOS’ purchase of a 25% stake in Manchester United, Get French Football News spoke to the BBC about their running of Ligue 1 club OGC Nice.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has owned Nice since buying the club for €100 back in 2019. Whilst Les Aiglons are currently thriving under Francesco Farioli, that has not always been the case. Upon the purchase of Nice, the stated objective was to challenge Paris Saint-Germain for the title. As President Jean-Pierre Rivère stated in pre-season, this “ambitious project is no longer on the agenda.”
GFFN spoke to BBC Sport about the lessons that must be learned if INEOS’ running of Manchester United is to be a success. “I think the lesson they have learned is to delegate. To delegate to the right people. There was too much of a stranglehold on the sporting side of things.”
“Notably, last season, there were claims in the French media that Ratcliffe and INEOS were insistent that some players had to play, notably Kasper Schmeichel and Nicolas Pépé. Pépé in particular was very much shoehorned in because he did not fit in with their playing philosophy at all.”
“I think what they have to have learned is to give control and empower the people they need to empower, rather than controlling all the decisions, especially on the sporting side of things,” said GFFN. You can listen to the BBC’s full profile on Ratcliffe here.
