Sir Jim Ratcliffe takes swipe at Manchester United's academy

Man Utd's academy has been the beating heart of football club for decades, but Sir Jim Ratcliffe thinks it must improve

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has suggested standards at Manchester United's academy have "really slipped."

United's academy is still regarded as one of the finest youth institutions in the world.

Nick Cox recently left his position as head of the academy to become Everton's technical director.

During Cox's nine-year stint in Manchester, he played a pivotal role in United's academy renaissance, helped 35 players make their senior debuts, secured top youth signings and oversaw an FA Youth Cup triumph.

In recent years, Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho have been celebrated as success stories, while Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay progressed to the senior team before them.

That hasn't stopped Ineos from making changes. Ratcliffe's club-wide redundancies meant some youth coaches were lost, and Stephen Torpey has now been appointed to succeed Cox as academy director.

Speaking in an interview with The Business podcast, Ratcliffe said: “The academy has really slipped at Manchester United. You need the academy to be producing talent all the time.

"It helps you financially. That’s not a light switch. You don’t solve the academy problem overnight. It takes time. We just recruited a new academy director.”

The statistics from Cox's time at the club read well. United academy graduates played 25 per cent of first-team minutes between 2019 and 2024 - only second to Bayern Munich in the top five leagues - and United ranked second in the Premier League for minutes given to teenagers last season.

Cox oversaw the continuation of United’s record of including an academy in every first-team matchday squad for over 4,200 games. The U18s won three national trophies in 2023/2024. And in the last two seasons, the U13s, U14s and U15s have been national champions.

The 48-year-old established the academy alumni programme, which has ensured that former players remain actively engaged with the academy and receive access to support, help and advice.

United were the first academy in England to introduce a player-coach role with the U21s.

Torpey worked closely with Jason Wilcox at Manchester City. Wilcox was the driving force behind his appointment and the pair sat together at a recent U21 game at Old Trafford.

External sources have questioned why so many former City staff members are being recruited to work at Carrington.

-

Here at the Manchester Evening News, we’re dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United coverage and analysis.

Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.

You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.

Click here to read article