JIM 'N TONIC

Ratcliffe 'most important United signing in decade

- DAVID McDONNELL

SIR JIM RATCLIFFE could be Manchester United’s best signing of the past decade – if he succeeds in his £1.4bn deal to buy 25 per cent of the club.

United’s football operations will undergo a radical overhaul if, as expected, INEOS billionaire chief Ratcliffe gets the green light from the Old Trafford board for his bid for a minority stake.

Ratcliffe wants overall control of the football side of United and is likely to be handed it, which could mean trouble for football director John Murtough and chief executive Richard Arnold.