Sir Jim Ratcliffe has a long wait to finalize his Man Utd deal but the billionaire wants to keep the club’s backroom boss under fire

SIR JIM RATCLIFFE may have to wait until next week to complete his buy-in for Manchester United.

It had previously been suggested that Ratcliffe’s £1.3bn purchase for a 25 per cent stake in the club would now be sealed.

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However, Telegraph sports is now reporting that there is no guarantee the deal will be announced before Thanksgiving on Thursday.

And sources close to the offer fear that public confirmation may be yet to come next Week.

Regardless, Man Utd director of football John Murtough appears to be keeping his job while the club searches for a new permanent director of football.

The club announced the resignation of Richard Arnold from his position as CEO last week.

Ratcliffe will make sweeping changes behind the scenes at the club.

Ratcliffe’s Ineos team are understood to be looking for specialists to fill key roles given the Red Devils’ recruitment and long-term strategy difficulties since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Crystal Palace’s Dougie Freedman and former Tottenham recruitment boss Paul Mitchell have both been linked with the role of director of football.

There have also been links with Atalanta’s Lee Congerton, former AC Milan duo Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara and Atlético Madrid’s Andrea Berta.

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However, the report adds that there is no guarantee Murtough will leave the position even if Ratcliffe’s purchase is completed, although reports over the weekend suggested otherwise.

The British billionaire will have to wait another six to eight weeks for the Premier League to ratify a deal before pressing ahead with his restructuring plans.

Ultimately, however, the Glazer family will make the final decision on personnel matters as they continue to retain a majority stake in the club.

The Arnold decision was said to be a deterioration in his relationship with Joel Glazer and a sign that he had begun to move away from the job.

Murtough, meanwhile, appears to show no sense of it and remains a visible figure at the club’s Carrington training ground.

In fact, he continues to hope to make some personnel additions to the Red Devils’ scouting recruiting plan across both youth and senior teams.

One of the things Ratcliffe has on the agenda is solving the problem Future by Jadon Sancho, who has been excluded from first team training since his public dispute with Erik ten Hag over his training performance.

Juventus is reportedly interested Italy and from Saudi Arabia.

Another item on the agenda will be investment in Old Trafford.

The club was hit hard again after part of the roof fell off during Man Utd Women’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester City at the weekend.

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