Amid all the excitement surrounding the appointment of Omar Berrada as Manchester United’s new CEO and the likely arrival of Dan Ashworth as technical director, it is another man who touched down at Old Trafford alongside Sir Jim Ratcliffe who could yet prove to be the biggest driver of change at the Premier League giants.
Just ask Dame Laura Kenny. A six-time Olympic medallist – and two-time gold winner at the 2012 London games – the British cycling legend knows first-hand how much energy Ratcliffe’s long-standing right-hand man dispels ensuring that every singly one of his athletes are best-placed to achieve even the biggest of goals.
“I only have good things to say about the way that he made British cycling so successful,” Kenny tells talkSPORT of the ‘incredible’ Sir Dave Brailsford, one of the new additions to Manchester United‘s revamped board.
It is not only Brailsford’s well-documented ‘marginal gains’ approach that makes Ineos’ Director of Sport such a useful figure to have around. As principal of the uber-successful cycling group formerly known as Team Sky, Kenny worked closely with Brailsford as he set about transforming Britain into a dominant force in the on-bike world.
Manchester United have big plans under Ineos
“I felt he had people skills because he had to speak to us bike riders on a daily basis,” Kenny adds.
“He clearly has the people skills to be able to get a team of people together as well because, being PD (performance director) of British Cycling, there’s a whole load of people below him that he would’ve had to rile up and get on the same page.
“That was the biggest thing for me. When I walked into any room in the velodrome, everyone had bought into the same thing. That’s because ‘Dave B’ had managed to get everyone on the same page.
“We were all going for gold, it didn’t matter that only one person stands on the podium. Everyone felt like winners at the end of it.”
If Brailsford can translate his success in cycling over to football, then brighter days should be around the corner at Manchester United. it is no secret that Brailsford is the driving force behind United’s pursuit of former Newcastle chief Ashworth, and the admiration between both men is very much a two-way street.
Ashworth is a huge fan of the Ineos director
Ashworth, who invited Brailsford to speak at Newcastle back in 2022, describes the Derbyshire-born 60-year-old as ‘without doubt the best in the world at creating a high-performance culture and turning that into winning’.
“Everyone thinks of Sir Dave as marginal gains. And when you say marginal gains everyone thinks (about) the equipment,” Kenny explains.
“He was so good at making sure us as bike riders were treated as people. And actually, by doing so, it meant that he looked after anything for us.”
“Before the London Olympics. I wanted my mattress changing. Within a day, I’ve got a brand new mattress and a mattress that you then go to travel the world with, because he wanted you to sleep on it consistently. He wanted that one bed to come with you.”
“Every single little detail was thought about.”
‘The best in the world’
It’s telling that Brailsford and Ratcliffe have wasted little time in holding face-to-face talks with not only Man United’s staff and players but also club legends such as Rio Ferdinand and various fan groups, Ratcliffe setting out his plans via a series of wide-ranging and exciting interviews.
“I’ve already had a meeting with the new owners,” Man United captain Bruno Fernandes tells A Bola, clearly buying into the message put forward by Ratcliffe, Brailsford and co.
“They want to meet with the players and have already done so individually. I want to stay here, I want to be part of a project that has feet, legs, torso and head, everything we need to be able to compete with Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.”
READ MORE: Join the conversation with the United in Focus Whatsapp group
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
