Sir Jim Ratcliffe has said that it would be “not that clever” for Manchester United to try to sign Kylian Mbappe.
France captain Mbappe, 25, is set to leave Paris Saint-Germain for Real Madrid when his contract expires in June.
Although Madrid may not be obligated to pay a transfer fee to PSG, signing Mbappe will likely prove incredibly expensive due to the player’s high salary demands.
Ratcliffe and his INEOS Group are now in charge of running football operations at United after acquiring a minority stake – approximately 27.7% – in the club in February.
United are expected to be busy in the transfer market in the summer, but Ratcliffe has made it clear that there will be no attempt to hijack Madrid’s move for Mbappe.
Ratcliffe also owns a professional cycling team and he appeared recently on the Geraint Thomas Cycling Club podcast.
While on the podcast, he was asked if he would rather sign Mbappe for United or ace cyclist Tadej Pogacar for his INEOS racing team.
He replied: “I would rather sign the next Mbappe rather than spend a fortune buying success.
“It’s not that clever buying Mbappe. Anyone could figure that one out. More challenging is to find the next Mbappe or next Jude Bellingham or next Roy Keane.”
After mentioning Bellingham, Ratcliffe was then asked if he would consider making an approach for the Madrid and England midfielder.
Ratcliffe responded: “He is a great footballer. It’s not where our focus is, the solution isn’t spending a lot of money on a couple of great players.
“They have done that, if you look at the last 10 years, they have spent a lot of money on a couple of great players.
“The first thing we need to do is get the right people in the right boxes who are managing and organizing the club. And make sure we get recruitment right, it is such a vital part of football today.”
Ratcliffe is understood to be close to appointing Dan Ashworth as United’s new sporting director.
Ashworth has impressed in similar roles at Brighton and Newcastle.
