Ineos have already signed a huge talent who could end up at United in future

Ineos chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s deal to acquire a minority stake in Manchester United is yet to be ratified by the Premier League, as such they are unlikely to actively influence any January transfer business at Old Trafford.

Further, it’s understood Director of Sport at Ineos, Sir Dave Brailsford, is leading an audit of United’s transfer structure at the moment.

As part of their plans to improve the club’s football structure, Ratcliffe intends to shake-up the hierarchy by roping in some of the best footballing minds in Europe. By convincing Omar Berrada to leave Manchester City to take over as United’s new chief executive, the new co-owners have already shown they mean business.

Under the leadership of Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc Ineos group already has a significant footprint in European football courtesy of their ownership of Nice and FC Lausanne-Sport. As such, United could have a pathway towards signing talents attached to the two clubs.

Lausanne-Sport have signed Simone Pafundi on a one-year loan deal from Udinese. According to Fabrizio Romano, the Swiss club also have the option to make the deal permanent for €15m.

This a significant coup for Lausanne as Pafundi, 17, is considered one of the most promising attacking talents in Italy. The forward made his senior debut for Italy in November of 2022 and became the first player to debut for the Azzurri before turning 17 in the last 100 years.

Needless to say, should he continue to develop at the current rate it will not be too long before one of the big European sides comes knocking. While this all remains pretty hypothetical, he could also emerge as an interesting transfer option for United in the future – all thanks to their Ineos connection.