Man United’s Ratcliffe vows to end Man City, Liverpool rule

Manchester United's new minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has said he wants to break the dominance of Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League and believes he can do it within three years.

Ratcliffe's 27.7% stake was officially signed on Tuesday, and speaking on Wednesday the 71-year-old said he wanted to knock City and Liverpool “off their perch”.

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This is a reference to a quote made by Sir Alex Ferguson when he took charge of United in 1986, when he said he wanted to overthrow Liverpool, who dominated the English Championship in the 1970s and 1980.

“We have a lot to learn from our noisy neighbor and the other neighbor,” Ratcliffe said.

“At the end of the day, they are the enemy. There is nothing I would like better than to knock them both off their perch. They have been in a good position for a while and there are things that we can learn from both of them. .

“They have sensible organizations, great people within the organizations, a positive, motivated, elite environment that they work in. I respect them a lot but they remain the enemy.”

City and Liverpool have combined to win the last six Premier League titles, while Pep Guardiola's side are hoping to claim a record fourth consecutive championship this season.

United, meanwhile, won the last of their 20 titles under Ferguson in 2013 and are sixth in the table this season, 13 points behind Liverpool at the top.

But despite more than a decade of underperformance at Old Trafford, Ratcliffe believes three years is a reasonable time frame to return to success.

“Fans would lose patience if it was a 10-year plan,” he said.

“But it's certainly a three-year plan to get there. To think we're going to play football as well as Manchester City played against Real Madrid last year is not reasonable next season.

“And if we give people false expectations, they will be disappointed. So I think the main thing is our trajectory, so that people can see that we are progressing. Because it is not easy to make Manchester United the best football in the world. team.”

Meanwhile, Ratcliffe, speaking in London, branded Newcastle “idiots” following negotiations to hire sporting director Dan Ashworth.

Newcastle want a remuneration of between £15 million ($18.9 million) and £20 million ($25.2 million), with the 51-year-old executive also taking a lengthy gardening leave.

Ratcliffe also left the door open for the possible return of Mason Greenwood, on loan to Getafe following criminal and club investigations into alleged abusive behavior.

“I can talk about the principle, I’m not going to talk about Mason,” Ratcliffe said. “I know it. The principle is the most important because we will have other problems in the future.

“We will make a decision, yes, that’s right. And we will justify it one way or another.

“All I can do is talk about the principle of how we're going to approach him. Is he the right type of footballer? Is he a good person or not?”