Eric Cantona slams Sir Jim Ratcliffe comments

Manchester United’s off-field turmoil under Sir Jim Ratcliffe has rarely stayed out of the headlines since he took his stake in the club back in 2024.

His restructuring has included 450 job cuts across two rounds of redundancies, the closure of the Old Trafford staff canteen, and lunch options at Carrington reduced to soup and bread for anyone below first-team level.

Academy coaches were among those axed, while United’s Under-18s were even denied the chance to play a FA Youth Cup tie at Old Trafford to save an estimated £8,000.

Ratcliffe has defended the cuts robustly, saying, “I got a lot of flak for cancelling the free lunches, but no-one’s ever given me a free lunch,” and insisting United have since become “the most profitable club in the world.”

That background of unpopularity has been overshadowed in recent months by comments of a very different nature, first made back in February and repeated again most recently.

Ratcliffe claimed the United Kingdom had been “colonised” by immigrants and later apologised, before doubling down in a fresh BBC interview by saying the country “is on the slide” because of immigration.

“Unfortunately, at the moment, I think the UK is on the slide.

“It’s quite difficult to see how we arrest it,” Ratcliffe said.

He continued, “I think ultimately, we need politicians who are tough enough to deal with some really difficult problems.

“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, otherwise, it ends in a bad place.”

Those remarks prompted United’s Muslim Supporters’ Club to call for Ratcliffe to leave the club entirely, branding the comments “deeply disappointing” in a lengthy statement that read, “Our players, staff, stewards, security teams and supporters come from different countries, cultures, ethnicities, religions and backgrounds. Manchester United would not be Manchester United without them.”

Eric Cantona, currently touring Ireland with his “Eric The King” evening events, was asked directly about the comments by well-known United fan Pete Boyle, including whether he would have signed for the club had Ratcliffe been a co-owner over 30 years ago.

Eric Cantona slams Ratcliffe comments

“No,” Cantona bluntly responded, before adding, “Of course not. You know what I think about all of this, with this kind of politics.

“And I cannot understand that someone like this can say something like this when he’s one of the owners of the club.”

Eric Cantona, whose own mother came from Spanish refugees, went further still, drawing on his own documentary about immigration’s role in shaping French football, “Football is made – all the greatest players come from different waves of immigration.

“Raymond Kopa was the son of Polish immigrants.

“Zidane, from Algeria. Benzema, from Algeria. That’s football. You have to respect people that come from different waves of immigration. I cannot accept this kind of thing.”

Ratcliffe’s comments come at a difficult time on the pitch too, with United having won only one of their opening five league games and suffering a shock Carabao Cup exit to Brighton in midweek.

Fans protested against the ownership before the defeat to Manchester City.