Ineos have perfected the recruitment model of signing young players before they break through, but the latest developments around Sekou Kone prove that’s only half the battle.
In many ways, Sekou Kone was the start of Ineos’ revolution at Manchester United, as the club that no longer dithered, and got to wonderkids instead of buying them as superstars later.
Plucked from Mali for a drop in the ocean for a club of United’s size, Ineos’ vision was clear and refreshing after the Glazers’ apathy.
Are you happy with Ineos and Sir Jim Ratcliffe?
Having recently sealed his first senior football loan at Ineos-owned FC Lausanne in Switzerland, their strategy was clear too. Or is it?
Sekou Kone left in limbo at FC Lausanne
The multi-club ownership system, as unethical as it is, has quickly become a need for the bigger clubs to stay in the competition with others doing it.
As it is, United were behind because the Glazers never bothered with it, but when Ineos came with OGC Nice and FC Lausanne in their bag, expectations were high.
Last summer was the first time Man Utd fans saw this connection in action, as Enzo Kana-Biyik was signed and loaned straight away from Lausanne.
Sekou Kone followed this path in January and recently made his debut as well, but has since exposed Ineos’ teething problems in managing their network.
Kone has been left out of Lausanne’s UEFA European Conference League squad, which was a key factor in why Kone was even sent to Switzerland in the first place.
Having European football experience was a major plus for him, something which he won’t have now that he hasn’t even been registered for the competition.
A loan spell that promised much has left Kone in limbo, as he is already on the fringes of the first-team squad, and now ineligible to play in an entire competition.
Ineos must fix multi-club disconnect
Ineos have done the bare minimum for identifying multi-club ownership as a pathway, but they are completely missing the trick for what comes after.
SHOULD Ineos be doing more moves between United, Nice and Lausanne?
Would you like to see Unied using Nice like Chelsea use Strasbourg?
Lausanne and Nice can’t be dumping grounds for young talents without any plan or vision for their growth and development.
Enzo Kana-Biyik’s case is less severe, but even he has not looked ready for that level of football, while Kone’s omission just hammers home the point that Ineos’ multi-club system is functioning on a “loan and forget” philosophy.
The basic premise of having multiple clubs under your umbrella is to have a shared pathway and a single consolidated vision of a chain of players.
Man City bring Savinho from Brazil, benefiting from their scouting knowledge due to having a club there, and he spends two seasons at City-owned Troyes, without even playing a game for him, as he’s loaned.
Then he comes to City-owned Girona, where he flourishes and eventually makes his way to City.
That’s the kind of joined-up thinking needed to platform players to perform at their best. There will still be more misses than hits, that’s just the reality of youth development, but Ineos aren’t even giving these players a chance.
If Kone loses six months of his career at Lausanne, it should spark a forensic analysis into what’s going wrong with Ineos’ thinking.
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