Manchester United are a “gillion miles away” from Man City and if a manager wins them the Premier League in the next five years, they should be “knighted”.
That is the brutal view of Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson, who has scoffed at Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ambition to knock City “off their perch”.
Ratcliffe completed his purchase of 25% of Manchester United earlier this month and hasn’t been shy in outlining his lofty ambitions for the club.
But a 2-1 defeat at home to Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday would have brought the new Red Devils co-owner back down to earth, with the enormity of the task facing him at Old Trafford laid bare.
Merson slams Jim Ratcliffe comments
Merson was working on the game as a pundit on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday and he launched into an astonishing rant over United’s current woes amid Ratcliffe’s comments.
“If you are Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford sitting there today, they will be thinking: ‘Oh my God, I have put a lot of money into this’,” Merson said.
“You put all that money in and you watch that today and they are a gillion miles away. They are a gillion quid away.
"They're a GILLION miles away" 😦Paul Merson was SCATHING about Manchester United's performance after their defeat to Fulham. pic.twitter.com/LKLNNzyRry
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 24, 2024
“He’s come in and said: ‘We are going to try and take over Man City’. Woah, pull it in. Try and take over a couple of the others first. No chance.
“The last five or six weeks have just been covering over the cracks and all of a sudden they got found out again today against a Fulham team who aren’t serial winners away from home.
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“Jim Ratcliffe has said we are going to pull in Man City. Pull in teams like Aston Villa first. They are a million miles away from Man City.
“It is getting to a stage now when I am looking at Manchester United in the same way I used to look at England 10 years ago.
“I used to think England would never win a tournament in my lifetime and that is the way it is with Manchester United at the moment in the Premier League. They are a million miles off.”
Merson urges Ashworth resolution
Ratcliffe is keen to appoint Dan Ashworth as the club’s new technical director, but Newcastle are demanding £20million in compensation for him to leave St James’ Park.
However, Merson has urged Manchester United to pay the money and start their rebuild under their new co-owner “from the bottom”.
“They need to go out and get Ashworth,” Merson added. “I would rather they paid £30million for him than a £30million player because they need to start somewhere.
“They need to start from the bottom, sit down this year and wipe the floor. Get Ashworth in, get people who he wants in and then they start. This is going to be very slow.
“I would be shocked if they are anywhere near the league title. If they win the league in the next five years, the manager should get knighted.”