Eric Cantona lays into Sir Jim Ratcliffe: 'I would not have signed for Man Utd'

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FT Desk

Eric Cantona has confirmed that he wouldn't have signed for Manchester United in 1992 if Sir Jim Ratcliffe was in charge of the club.

In February of 2024, Ratcliffe and Ineos bought a 27.7% stake in the Red Devils and were subsequently given control of club operations by majority shareholders, the Glazer family.

There was initial optimism among Man Utd fans, many of whom became disillusioned with the club under the full ownership of the Glazers.

However, results on the pitch didn't improve which led to the sacking of Erik ten Hag and eventually Ruben Amorim, while there were large redundancies among club staff which proved to be an extremely unpopular decision. In 2024/25, United suffered their worst-ever Premier League finish, in 15th.

This week Ratcliffe, who lives in Monaco and pays tax there, caused controversy when he said the United Kingdom was "on the slide" due to immigration.

"Unfortunately, at the moment, I think the UK is on the slide. It's quite difficult to see how we arrest it," Ratcliffe said, as shown on Sky News.

"I think ultimately, we need politicians who are tough enough to deal with some really difficult problems. Nobody's tough enough to deal with the immigration problem. Nobody's tough enough to deal with the benefits problem. But somebody needs to do it, otherwise, it ends in a bad place."

Cantona, who previously accused Ineos and Ratcliffe of "destroying" the club, was recently asked on a speaking tour of Ireland if he would have signed for the Ineos chief back in 1994.

He responded: "No. Of course not. You know what I think about all of this, with this kind of politics. And I cannot understand that someone like this can say something like this when he's one of the owners of the club."

"Football is a very popular sport. Football is made - all the greatest players come from different waves of immigration. Everywhere, in France, in England, everywhere.

"In France for instance, the greatest players in France, they all come from different waves of immigration. I made a documentary on that, French Football: An Immigrant History. Raymond Kopa, in the fifties, was the son of Polish immigrants who came to France, worked in France, and worked hard in France.

"And then the Italians, Italians like Platini. And then Spanish, like me, my mother came from Spanish refugees. I cannot accept this kind of thing."

The Frenchman, who is a co-owner of FC United of Manchester, which was formed in protest against the Glazers' takeover in 2005, slammed Ratcliffe last year.

"Since Ratcliffe arrived, this team of directors try to destroy everything, and they don't respect anybody," he thundered at another stage show in response to the billionaire's mass layoffs as a cost-cutting measure and plans to leave Old Trafford.

"I feel sad to see United in this kind of situation. They decided something else. They have another strategy, another project. I support United because I really love United, but now if I was a fan and I had to choose a club, I don't think I would choose United."

In 2025, circulated about a potential Man Utd takeover from figures in the United Arab Emirates and Cantona was mentioned as potentially being the face of that consortium, but no offer came for the Red Devils.