This week, Manchester United’s protracted sales saga finally came to an end, in the form of a purchase from Jim RatcliffeThe drama on the field also returned.

The Red Devils’ sale was done the hard way, and that goes for them too 3-2 win against Aston Villa on Tuesday was as typical a display of United as one could imagine.

It was another improved performance from Erik ten Hag’s side, but they were 2-0 down at half-time. A goal disallowed after a brilliant start to the second half seemed to epitomize modern Manchester United.

But United equalized with two goals from youngster Alejandro Garnacho. Then came the fairytale winner for another starlet – this time one the club invested heavily in – Rasmus Hojlund with his first Premier League goal for the 15th time.

Victory was won the Old Trafford way, against all odds and when the going got tough.

Takeover turmoil

After the Glazer takeover in 2005, United won the Premier League five times and the Champions League once, but have not won since Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013.

There were rumors that the Americans had been selling almost every year since the takeover, largely due to the Fans are begging – and protesting – for a change of property.

However, in November 2022 it was officially announced that the Glaziers examined the possibility of a sale the club.

Ratcliffe, a childhood United fan and one of the UK’s richest people, emerged as an early candidate, but the Qatari businessman, Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani was considered the favorite.

In the end it fell to Ratcliffe and his INEOS group, who bought a 25% stake in the club and, it appeared, took control of the football operations.

The turmoil of the takeover itself brought the club’s problems to the forefront for Gary Neville, the former Manchester United defender and now leading pundit and co-owner of Salford City in English football’s fourth tier, League Two.

“Manchester United 2023 was a disgrace until the end,” Neville posted on social media platform X in response to the takeover.

“The timing of this is truly terrible and no functioning organization would even consider it.

“I hope he does [Ratcliffe] I can somehow find a way to put the club back in order and make it something respectable again on and off the pitch.”

Manchester United 2023 was a disgrace until the end. The timing of this is truly terrible and no functioning organization would even think about it. In any case, I wish Jim Radcliffe all the best and I hope he somehow finds a way to sort the club out and get it back on track…

– Gary Neville (@GNev2) December 24, 2023

When Ferguson resigned, chief executive David Gill followed him from Old Trafford. Ferguson later said he would never have retired that year if he had known Gill would also be leaving.

Ed Woodward was put in charge of football operations by the Glazers – one guess: a decade on, United are in more urgent need of filling Gill’s shoes than Ferguson’s.

Sir Dave Brailsford, former British Cycling performance director, will play a key role, as he has with Ratcliffe’s other INEOS-backed sports projects.

This will shape United behind the scenes – fans will hope it signifies a clear direction and strategy for the club’s future, and with it a move away from the shotgun approach that has categorized the running of football operations over the last decade.

There are unlikely to be any major changes in the short term. The Ratcliffe purchase still needs to be approved by the Premier League, ruling out any serious investment in the January transfer market.

Steps on a larger scale will have to wait until the summer and go beyond the lean budgeting that has been in place since the Glazers announced plans to step back more than a year ago.

How ten Hag would have loved to have the finances that could become available next summer with Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, among others, on the move in 2023.

Old Trafford itself requires significant investment and could be demolished to accommodate a state-of-the-art replacement – perhaps symbolic of the long-term strategy the club must now pursue. Even the Carrington training ground has been ridiculed in recent years.

There is little that doesn’t need an overhaul if a Theater of Dreams is to be reborn.

The coming weeks and months

United captain Bruno Fernandes rarely gets to the point and admits the speculation surrounding the takeover was inevitable for the dressing room.

“With social media and newspapers we see everything,” he told Amazon Prime after the win against Villa.

“We know what the club is going through – it’s impossible not to see it – but it won’t change what we do on the pitch.

“We have to focus on ourselves, on the team and on what we can control – that is ourselves and our performance.”

“It won’t change what we do on the pitch except if they bring in money and change a few players on the pitch, but other than that it won’t change anything.”

As in every area of ​​life, uncertainty leads to instability. Not only was the takeover inevitable for the locker room, it will also weigh heavily on the coach.

In his time at United, ten Hag has had to deal with the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, the captaincy removal of Harry Maguire, his near-sale and subsequent revival, Marcus Rashford’s lateness to training and resulting public dismissal, and Jadon Sancho’s exclusion from the squad and the debate about the future of Mason Greenwood.

“The first thing he [ten Hag] “Saying he wanted to change at Man United was the culture,” former United defender Rio Ferdinand said on his Twitter account Podcast Mood with Five.

“He’s already done this [taking on] Big, big problems lie ahead.”

The result at Aston Villa, and perhaps even more so the way it was at Manchester United, couldn’t have come at a better time for ten Hag.

The television cameras turn to the stands to catch a glimpse of Ratcliffe or Brailsford every time United concede or underperform.

Do you want to bring in your own manager? These rumors have already started and ten Hag, like the United players, will have to put up with that, at least for now.

They also have to live with the fact that all January transfer activity will have to be carried out by INEOS, even before the Premier League ratifies the deal.

Ratcliffe himself wrote a letter to the Manchester United Supporters Trust saying: “I believe we can achieve sporting success on the pitch that complements the club’s undoubted commercial success.”

“It requires time and patience as well as care and the highest level of professional management.”

Another fan group, The 1958, posted on [the Glazers’] Exit strategy. We have never deviated from this stance. Let’s hope this is the beginning of a new dawn.”

If the @The__1958 If you are a man of your word and truly want the Glazers gone 100%, then now is the time to organize serious protests – it is the absolute last chance.

Mass disruption required#GlazersOut #RatcliffeOut #FullSaleOnly

– Red_Devil (@ReDevil_UTD) December 24, 2023

With “noisy neighbors”, Manchester City, were crowned club world champions this month With their fifth trophy of the year, United’s return to the top cannot come soon enough for Old Trafford fans.

Perhaps the comeback against Villa, which brings back memories of the twists and turns against teams like Sheffield on Wednesday against Bayern Munich, has opened a ray of hope for a club that has been beleaguered and unsettled for so long.

The man who perhaps best summed up the club’s current situation and its future prospects was opposing coach Unai Emery at Old Trafford on Tuesday evening.

When asked what went wrong with his Aston Villa team, his answer was simple: “They are Manchester United.

“Manchester United can come back like them.”