Mike Keegan shares what ‘decent source in the US’ told him about Ratcliffe’s Man Utd deal

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Manchester United will not be busy in the January transfer window even though Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival could be confirmed this week.

It has taken a while – longer than expected – but United should finally have Sir Jim Ratcliffe on board soon enough.

Once Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim backed away from a potential takeover in October, Ratcliffe was in the box seat.

Rather than a full takeover, Ratcliffe will purchase a 25% stake in United for around £1.25billion.

We have been waiting for two months for this deal to be announced but it sounds like confirmation is just around the corner…

Manchester United close to announcing Sir Jim Ratcliffe deal

The Daily Mail’s Mike Keegan now reports that he is being told by a ‘decent’ US source that the deal could be announced before Christmas.

Keegan claims that the source has indicated that confirmation could arrive ‘in the coming days’.

That timeframe is viewed as being ‘realistic’ with Ratcliffe seemingly on the verge of having his investment confirmed.

“The hope is still that it will be announced before Christmas, in the coming days, were the words given to me,” said Keegan. “I have a decent source in the US and they believe the next few days is realistic,” said Keegan.

This comes amid additional claims that one of Ratcliffe’s first moves will be to land Newcastle United sporting director Dan Ashworth.

A move to land Ashworth is now considered ‘increasingly likely’ in what would be an enormous coup and a blockbuster start to the Ratcliffe era if true.

Don’t expect big changes in January

Keegan does though add that Ratcliffe will still need to go through an approval process, which could take up to eight weeks.

That means Ratcliffe may be waiting until mid-February to really get started at United.

The January transfer window is fast approaching but Keegan claims that United don’t plan to do much business anyway, regardless of the Ratcliffe situation.

United are still battling Financial Fair Play and seemingly can’t just go and spend on more new signings.

It’s suggested that the only real bits of business United will do are exits for Jadon Sancho and Donny van de Beek.

We know that Van de Beek is now on his way to Eintracht Frankfurt and Sancho’s expected departure may be the end of United’s January business.

“One caveat to that is the approval process will take between six to eight weeks. United fans listening might think that’s the transfer window out of the question. The transfer window, I am told – do not expect big moves from Manchester United and that has nothing to do with the takeover. That is to do with Financial Fair Play and the balance sheet.”

“I am told the bits of business you can expect are: Jadon Sancho out on loan if they can find the right move for him and Donny van de Beek, a loan move out for him. It’s not like this gets announced and all of sudden there’s all these players that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s group have got lined up and in they come,” he added.

That would be a disappointment for many fans but maybe this is for the best.

This will tee United up for a big summer, giving Ratcliffe and his team some time to assess the situation at the club and decide on a strategy moving forward.

United can’t really afford to throw money at this situation and the slow, measured approach may actually be better for the long-term success of the club.