Chelsea shambles emphasised by sensible Man Utd; Ratcliffe over ...

When Manchester United look a whole lot more sensible than you, you know things are extremely messy.

Man Utd are rarely the blueprint for clubs but Sir Jim Ratcliffe is doing in his first season at Old Trafford what Todd Boehly should have done in his at Stamford Bridge – kept his manager and added four or five top players, not a load of rubbish for £500m.

When put up for sale in 2022 by Roman Abramovich, Sir Jim Ratcliffe expressed an interest in buying Chelsea but it was LA Dodgers owner Todd Boehly and his consortium that completed the takeover. The Londoners have been nothing short of a circus ever since.

Ratcliffe’s £4.25 billion offer was reportedly rejected out of hand as the billionaire emphasised his desire to buy the Premier League club. “My message to Raine is don’t discount our offer. We are British and have great intentions for Chelsea. If I was Raine I wouldn’t close any door,” is what the filthy-rich Brit had to say. Ratcliffe also admitted to having “split loyalties” between boyhood club Man Utd and the Blues and that head coach at the time, Thomas Tuchel, was “excellent”.

Boehly did not have the same feelings towards the Champions League winner, making his first of several mistakes three months after buying Chelsea, sacking him following a shock defeat to Dinamo Zagreb. The decision was a sign of things to come and felt especially bizarre after Tuchel was backed with £250m worth of signings in the 2022 summer transfer window.

Boehly’s move-making was seen as ambitious and exciting at the time but quickly became reckless. The logical thing to do was keep Tuchel and add three or four new signings to help bridge the gap between themselves and Premier League champions Manchester City. Marc Cucurella wasn’t wholly necessary but the signings of Wesley Fofana and Raheem Sterling improved Chelsea, though they were still missing an elite No. 9 and still are. The spending was over the top, with too many below-par players joining.

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You can argue about hindsight but Man Utd’s summer – led by the man Chelsea could have had – has been very positive. Leny Yoro is one of the best young centre-backs in the world, Matthijs de Ligt improves them in a position they were desperate for reinforcements, Joshua Zirkzee the same, and Noussair Mazraoui is a versatile full-back able to cover the position Luke Shaw so often makes available.

Manuel Ugarte would take Ratcliffe’s summer spending up to £200m, but again, he walks straight into the starting XI for an aging Casemiro. All five signings are young but undoubtedly improve the Red Devils. Already, their philosophy is miles ahead of Boehly’s early days at Stamford Bridge.

Then you have the managerial situation. As touched on, Boehly binned Tuchel after a slow start to the 2022/23 campaign. Fans and pundits were calling for Erik ten Hag’s head all of last season and in fairness, Ratcliffe was reportedly very keen to replace him, either with Tuchel or Gareth Southgate, which would not have gone down well.

Ten Hag winning the FA Cup saved his job and collaterally Ratcliffe a blunder with Southgate. Tuchel would not have been so bad, mind. Regardless, he decided stability was the best port of call and renewed Ten Hag’s contract. The problems at Man Utd run deeper than the manager anyway, and that is something Ratcliffe’s board appointments indicate he is fully aware of – unlike Boehly, who is the problem at Chelsea and the fall guy as the man behind the whole operation. Not Tuchel, Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino, Raheem Sterling, or Trevoh Chalobah.

Chelsea fans might have felt underwhelmed when Ratcliffe tried to buy them two years ago, but they will be wishing he was their owner now. Things could have been a lot different – for the better.

We all know Chelsea are an almighty mess and nothing emphasises that more than looking a lot sillier than Manchester United.

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