The honeymoon period for Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS Group at Manchester United appears to be over for Paul Scholes.
Ratcliffe purchased 25 percent of the club in late December 2023, with INEOS taking control of footballing operations at the same time. In the year since, the Red Devils have had three different managers and have fallen down the Premier League table, with several high-priced acquisitions failing to make an impact while stalwarts like Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho struggled to integrate into the ever-expanding squad.
For Scholes, who won 25 trophies with the Red Devils during his playing days, the new ownership structure has yet to impress on the field or off it, with the 11-time Premier League champion stating that Ratcliffe's management has actually harmed the club's relationship with their fans so far.
“[INEOS Group] have been in charge for nearly a year now and everything is still negative," Scholes said while speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet.
"I can’t think of something positive that they’ve done for the football club. Things are getting worse on the football pitch so couldn’t they have just said that they’d do cheaper tickets – couldn’t they just give us something positive.
"How can you ask Manchester United fans to pay more money with what’s on the football pitch.”
Scholes continued to rail against the cost of tickets at Old Trafford, stating: “£66 for a ticket is ridiculous. If you think of Manchester, there are so many deprived areas and Sir Jim Ratcliffe himself is from Failsworth – which is a deprived area.
"If you take one kid with you, that’s £120, if you take a family, you’re looking at £300-400 – it’s not right.”
With the lack of success on the pitch — United are 13th in the Premier League standings — Scholes questioned how ticket prices could be justified at this time.
“Where do these owners get the front to put ticket prices up?" he said. "For the value – we’re probably having our worst ever Premier League season and they’ve got the cheek to put the prices up.”