The changes in Manchester United’s football operations are gathering pace after a report emerged that Sir Dave Brailsford has left his role as team principal of the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team.
Brailsford was handed a place on the Red Devils board following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s acquisition of 29 per cent of the club in December and is conducting an audit of the football operations and personnel as Ratcliffe looks to turn around the club’s fortunes on the pitch.
And according to the Telegraph, he has officially stepped back from his role with the Grenadiers, which saw him transform the landscape of British cycling when he co-founded what was then called Team Sky in 2009.
Brailsford was removed as ‘team principle’ on the Grenadiers’ official website on Friday evening and he reportedly told the team’s riders and staff he would be leaving the role during their winter training camp in Majorca.
He remains involved with the team in his capacity as Inoes director of sport, but Ratcliffe’s trusted confidant’s immediate focus is now set to be on Old Trafford.
Ratcliffe has agreed to pay £1.3 billion for his stake in Manchester United and while the deal is still awaiting ratification from the Premier League, Brailsford is reportedly conducting an eight-week audit in order to assess the club’s football structure and what has gone wrong since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, with the club not having won the Premier League since the Scot’s retirement in 2012-13 amid a growing list of poor transfer decisions.
The Red Devils announced on Saturday that they had appointed Omar Berrada as their new CEO, poaching him from the City Football Group, who own bitter rivals Manchester City.
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