Ratcliffe’s Ineos group completed a deal worth about $1.6bn (£1.25bn) for a stake in Manchester United in February 2024.

Ineos then took over football operations at Old Trafford and quickly began a restructure with Ashworth appointed sporting director, Berrada as chief executive and Jason Wilcox as technical director.

In June, Ineos opted to keep Ten Hag as manager but then sacked him and his coaching staff, at a cost of £14.5m.

United paid Sporting £11m to bring in coach Ruben Amorim as Ten Hag’s replacement in November, and they also paid £4.1m to hire and then fire Ashworth.

United’s latest accounts showed a net loss of £113.2m in the year to 30 June 2024.

It follows losses of £28.7m in 2022-23 and £115.5m in 2021-22, with total losses across the past five years exceeding £370m.

During Ratcliffe’s first full season as co-owner, United could finish in the bottom half for the first time since 1989-90, when they were 13th in the old First Division.

According to last season’s ‘merit’ payments from the Premier League, if United remain in their current 15th position they will receive £16.9m – almost £20m less than the £36.7m they earned for finishing eight last term.

Winning the Europa League is the team’s only realistic avenue of qualifying for next season’s Champions League and should they fail to do so, they will suffer a £10m annual drop in their sponsorship deal with Adidas.

That is likely to put further pressure on United’s chances of bolstering Amorim’s squad in the summer and will bring greater scrutiny on the wisdom of so many of United’s recent transfer dealings.