Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos will successfully turn around Man Utd – Ben Ainslie

Ainslie’s partnership with Ratcliffe has led a Great Britain team to the America’s Cup for the first time in 60 years.

Pa Sport Staff
Wednesday 09 October 2024 14:25 EDT
Ineos chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe joined in the team’s celebrations (Joan Monfort/AP)
Ineos chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe joined in the team’s celebrations (Joan Monfort/AP) (AP)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Olympic gold medal winner Ben Ainslie believes Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos will successfully turn around Manchester United’s fortunes, but it will take time.

Ainslie has worked closely with the organisation as part of their America’s Cup challenge, which has seen a British team qualify for the finals for the first time in 60 years.

And from that experience, the four-time Olympic champion is convinced Ratcliffe will succeed in his mission to make United competitive again.

“It’s a matter of time, and it’s not going to happen overnight,” he told Sky Sports News.

“We know football at the highest level as the Premier League is, it’s incredibly tough to be successful, but knowing Jim, knowing people like Dave Brailsford, the rest of the team that they’ve now bought in there to manage the team and take things forwards, they’ll get there.

“I would say, you know, give them time. It’s not not something that’s going to flick a switch and happen overnight, but it will happen.”

Britain’s attempt to wrestle the America’s Cup from New Zealand’s grasp begins at the weekend and Ainslie believes a first success would surpass anything he achieved in the Olympics, where he won gold at four successive Games.

“America’s Cup started 173 years ago and Britain’s never won it so it’s a big moment for British Sailing,” he added.

“The fact that Britain has never won it and we’re such a proud sporting and maritime nation, that’s the motivation for myself and the rest of the team.

“And absolutely, it would eclipse anything that I’ve been fortunate to experience at Olympic level because to have success with a team, far eclipses anything that you can achieve as an individual.”

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in