Inside the Qataris’ ‘Project Ruby’ plan that ‘would have fixed Man Utd in THREE DAYS’ as fans turn on Ratcliffe

IT’S taken just 11 months for some Manchester United fans to turn on minority co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

And doubters in the Old Trafford faithful will no doubt be left even more frustrated when they find out what could’ve been under the Qatari administration, who had plans to revolutionise the club in just THREE DAYS.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has endured a pitiful start to life at Man Utd

Other bidder Sheikh Jassim’s concrete plans have been revealed

Plans were put in place for a brand new stadium

United fans staged a protest against Ratcliffe

Fan pressure and soaring costs saw the majority owning Glazer family announce that they were open to selling United in November 2022.

And Qatari billionaire banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, entered the race to buy Britain’s biggest football club.

After months of speculation, Sheikh Jassim’s final £4.5billion offer for full control was shunned by the Glazers, in favour of Britain’s richest man Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe’s own £1.2bn offer for a 27.7 per cent stake was accepted, and the 72-year-old, a life long fan, was effectively given the keys, taking control of all operations.

But things haven’t gone to plan, with sporting director Dan Ashworth leaving the club after just five months in his role in the latest of a string of PR disasters.

Almost 12 months on, the ‘new’ United lurches from horror show to another under Ratcliffe and his Ineos officers.

Ahead of Sunday’s derby at Man City they find themselves in a lowly 13th place in the Premier League.

After 15 games they are 16 points behind Liverpool, who spanked them 3-0 at Old Trafford.

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But the Mail have now revealed an inside swoop into what could’ve happened in M16 if the Qatari’s were allowed to buy the club outright.

Plans for a United rebirth, fuelled by vast wealth and some of the finest sporting and finance brains on earth, had already been carefully drafted.

The strategy for ‘Project Ruby’ saw the Qatari’s pledge to announce the takeover on the first day.

The removal of ALL of the club’s debt would come on the second day.

And United would be taken off the New York Stock Exchange and no longer answerable to far-away stakeholders.

By day three, Sheikh Jassim would reveal plans for a brand new state-of-the-art stadium.

That’s it, a clean break in three days to change the club’s history and current predicament.

As for Old Trafford, there would be no attempt to grab any money from the taxpayer, or confusion over whether this would be a refurbishment or a rebuild.

Ratcliffe was reportedly lobbying the government’s “Levelling Up” plan to give the north of England a venue to rival Wembley.

And the iconic ground continues to rot away, hampered by an embarrassing leaky roof and dead RATS under seats.

Under Sheikh Jassim this would have been a more straightforward process.

A supporter posted a picture of a dead rat at Old Trafford

A senior adviser to the Qatari group told the Mail: “The b****y thing would have been fully in-motion now.

“A stadium for a football club paid for by a football club and nobody else. And as for the staff Ratcliffe is firing – we would have been hiring.”

None of the above will be of solace to the United fans – and the large numbers of staff – who had wanted the Sheikh Jassim bid to succeed.

Populous, the designers responsible for many of the venues at the 2022 World Cup, had already drawn up plans, which were shared with bidders for United.

It can now be disclosed that an ‘adaptable’ stadium was being seriously considered, with a capacity of between 90,000 and 100,000.

A banner saying ‘Stop Exploiting Loyalty’ was held up inside and outside Old Trafford last week

AI images have been mocked up to show what Old Trafford could look like under Ratcliffe

Leading commercial property company JLL, based in Manchester city centre, had already been signed up to work on the project.

And there was a separate fund planned for the women’s team, who would’ve had their own training centre in Manchester.

Leading commercial property company JLL, based in Manchester city centre, had already been signed up to work on the project.

Far from being given the sack, Sir Alex Ferguson was to be cherished and invited onto an advisory board.

Others, including Class of ’92 members David Beckham and Gary Neville, were also being lined up to add their input.

But the opposite has come true.

Ratcliffe’s hated cost-cutting campaign has seen 250 redundancies made and tickets were hiked to £66 for kids and pensioners.

He’s even turned into the grinch and replaced the £100 staff Christmas bonus with a £40 M&S voucher in his latest money-saving measure.

Fans have already protested outside Old Trafford begging to stop being “exploited”.

But it might not be the end of the story.

The advisor told the Mail: “Sheikh Jassim is still a rich guy.

“He is still a United fan. He is not going to rush off and try another Premier League club.

‘If the opportunity to buy the whole of Manchester United arose again at some point in the future it is hard to see there not being a big level of interest. The plans are still there.”

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