Gary Lineker has turned on Sir Jim Ratcliffe, calling the Manchester United co-owner an 'unpleasant human being' and claiming he is 'even worse than the Glazers' - a striking line from a pundit who rarely holds back but has picked his moment here.
The comments follow a rough few days for Ratcliffe both off and on the pitch. On Saturday, the billionaire said 'nobody's tough enough to deal with the immigration problem' in the UK, months after claiming the country had been 'colonized by immigrants'. The Manchester United Muslim Supporters Club responded by demanding he leave the club, saying the INEOS chairman 'must go'. On Sunday, United followed that up with a flat performance at Fulham, needing a late leveler to escape with a 1-1 draw against a side that started the day bottom of the Premier League.
Speaking on 'The Rest is Football' podcast, via The Mirror, Lineker didn't hold back on what he sees happening at Old Trafford under Ratcliffe, who owns 28.94 percent of the club after teaming up with the Glazer family in February 2024.
"I look at Man United and I see problems coming down from the top," Lineker said. "I must congratulate the Glazers on finding someone even worse than them that they can blame and getting him in there and getting all the stick: Jim Ratcliffe. He's clearly... I don't think he's a particularly pleasant human being and it's a bit of shambles of a football club the way it's being run at the moment. So, well done to the Glazers on that one, deflecting everything away from them!"
Concerns Beyond the Boardroom
Lineker also pointed to United's struggles to hold onto young talent, with 15-year-old JJ Gabriel reportedly pushing for an exit due to a lack of first-team opportunities. "It is a bit of a mess that club," he said. "You've got a ground that's falling apart, all sorts of complaints about various things. They're losing young teenagers, it looks like that [Gabriel leaving] is going to happen. The results, the inconsistency seems to be back. They have backed the manager lots of times and it's not worked for them but there's got to be something dripping down from the top."
The Apology Question
Ratcliffe previously issued what was described as a mealy-mouthed apology for his 'colonization' remarks after then Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer branded them 'offensive and wrong'. Lineker wasn't convinced by that apology either, and took aim at what he called hypocrisy given Ratcliffe's own living arrangements.
"The hypocrisy I find difficult," Lineker said. "Obviously, Keir Starmer has called for him to make an apology; whether he will or not remains to be seen. I watched it and the hypocrisy really - the guy's a migrant himself, an economic migrant he lives in Monaco. You can have a gripe all you like, but at least be here, pay taxes, and contribute to our society."
He continued: "I would say a lot of these migrants who come in contribute enormously and facts show you that in terms of revenue and paid tax. Whereas Jim out there, in Monaco, is doing everything he can to avoid paying tax, I would suggest. Also, you're one of the owners of Manchester United, a club that has a lot of players from overseas. When he's talking about colonized with immigrants, is it okay that you're a white person living abroad, not a brown or black person? I don't know, only he can answer that question."
Lineker added that friends who support United had contacted him to express similar frustration. "Look at the story of Amad has ended up here. So I find it deeply concerning that an owner of a football club can say that sort of thing."
Ratcliffe made his original comments while speaking in Denmark at the unveiling of the EU's first carbon capture and storage system, where he said he had lost confidence in the UK. "We had the greatest empire in the world. We were a great people. We won two world wars," he said, before adding: "Nobody's tough enough to deal with the immigration problem. Nobody's tough enough to deal with the benefits problem. But somebody needs to do it."
