'They don't care' - Paul Scholes tears into Sir Jim Ratcliffe & INEOS for 'ridiculous' Man Utd ticket price hike & claims part owners have done 'nothing positive' since minority takeover

Ratcliffe, who is Britain’s richest man, is now a co-owner at Old Trafford alongside the unpopular Glazer family. His arrival was initially welcomed by a disgruntled fan base crying out for further investment and positive progress to be made on and off the pitch.

Ratcliffe has, however, overseen a number of cost-cutting measures behind the scenes, while passing fund-raising efforts onto supporters that are now shelling out big money to watch a brand of football that remains alarmingly inconsistent.

United great Scholes has been left less than impressed by the new regime in Manchester, with the 11-time Premier League title winner telling The Overlap Fan Debate brought to you by Sky Bet: “[INEOS Group] have been in charge for nearly a year now and everything is still negative. I can’t think of something positive that they’ve done for the football club. Things are getting worse on the football pitch so couldn’t they have just said that they’d do cheaper tickets – couldn’t they just give us something positive. How can you ask Manchester United fans to pay more money with what’s on the football pitch.

“£66 for a ticket is ridiculous. If you think of Manchester, there are so many deprived areas and Sir Jim Ratcliffe himself is from Failsworth – which is a deprived area. If you take one kid with you, that’s £120, if you take a family, you’re looking at £300-400 – it’s not right. Where do these owners get the front to put ticket prices up? For the value – we’re probably having our worst ever Premier League season and they’ve got the cheek to put the prices up.”

United have claimed positive results against arch-rivals Manchester City and Liverpool since appointing Ruben Amorim as successor to Erik ten Hag, but they remain 13th in the English top-flight table. Scholes sees little progress being made, adding: “There is nothing positive happening with that football club. The team look bang average. They’re not doing anything for fans. If we’ve got Sir Jim Ratcliffe, compared to all these American owners, who’s been a United fan since growing up in an area in Manchester – he’s still hiking prices up. It just shows that they don’t care.”

The Red Devils – who remain in the hunt for Europa League success this season - will be back in action on Sunday when starting another quest for major silverware, with the defence of their FA Cup crown set to be opened in a testing third-round trip to old adversaries Arsenal.