Nicky Butt threatened as latest victim to INEOS rules

Manchester United’s cost-cutting drive under Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS is starting to be felt in every corner of the club, from staff behind the scenes to some of the most iconic figures in its history.

In a bid to streamline operations and satisfy financial regulations, United have introduced stricter controls across the board.

That has meant redundancies, trimmed budgets and a more ruthless approach to what the hierarchy sees as “non-essential” spending.

Even club legends have not been spared.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s long-standing role as a global ambassador has been axed, while other former players have reportedly seen their matchday ambassador duties and payments reduced.

It’s a stark change in culture at a club that once prided itself on looking after its own.

Now Nicky Butt appears to be the latest high-profile figure caught up in the new regime’s rules.

Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, the Class of 92 midfielder revealed that his season ticket was threatened to be revoked because he had not used it often enough.

Butt explained that the policy is now brutally simple for season ticket holders, even those who helped build United’s modern success.

Explaining his recent interaction with the club, Nicky Butt commented: “If you don’t use them [season tickets] three times you get them taken off you.”

He continued: “I’ve had an email saying ‘you’re having your ticket taken off you’. So I rang them up and said can I speak to somebody about this please?

“And they go ‘who am I speaking to please?’, and I go Nicky Butt and they go, ‘OK, well who’s that?’

“I couldn’t really say it but I felt like saying: I played about 450 games for this club, and I’ve won about six or seven titles.”

For supporters, it’s another example of how clinical the new approach has become, rules applied with little room for sentiment, even when it comes to a Treble-winning midfielder who once patrolled Old Trafford’s pitch.

However, Butt and his former teammate Paul Scholes commented they didn’t mind the situation, but it just shows how different the landscape of the club is now compared to their time at Old Trafford.