Sir Jim Ratcliffe's influence not enough! 'Toxic culture' at Man Utd won't change until the Glazers leave, insists golf superstar Rory McIlroy

That's despite the arrival of British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, whose investment of a 25 per cent stake in the club was finally announced on Christmas Eve. While the INEOS chairman is set to cause a major shake-up behind the scenes at Old Trafford, the overarching owners remain the much-denigrated Glazer family, leaving McIlroy pessimistic over any major changes happening any time soon.

While appearing on Sky Bet's 'Stick to Football' podcast, the golfing legend and life-long United fan said: "I think it’s sad what’s happened at Manchester United with the owners as it’s got to the point where you’ve got the Glazers who can’t even go to their own club and watch games, because the fans are just so disillusioned with what’s going on. I grew up watching Manchester United in the 1990s and early 2000s, and even this David Beckham documentary a few weeks ago, it just reminds you of how good football was, and the good times. What we’ve been going through basically since Sir Alex Ferguson left – for my generation of Man United fans, we’re just not used to it. I just think the club has this sort of toxic culture that I don’t think will be able to be broken until the owners go. It’s maybe not as hard a thing to say for some people, but it’s sad that people have come in, owned a football club and they’ve spent quite a bit of money – they’ve taken a lot of money out too.”

Harking back to better times, McIlroy also listed his favourite-ever United players - including recently-sacked Birmingham City boss Wayne Rooney. The Northern Irishman added: "[On his favourite footballer growing up] It was David Beckham for a good part of It, but I loved Wayne Rooney. I still have season tickets at Manchester United and I loved going there and just watching Wayne because he worked so hard and ran everywhere, you felt exhausted after watching him for 90 minutes. To be that good but to also have that work ethic, to me he looked like he loved football, and I loved watching him play.”

How United could do with prime Beckham and Rooney right now, as the prolonged takeover involving Ratcliffe and the Glazers has wreaked havoc on their 2023-24 campaign. The Red Devils have crashed out of two cup competitions - including the Champions League group stages - with a whimper. Perhaps more damning, though, is the club's league position, with a recent defeat to Nottingham Forest - which brought up one of the worst calendar years in their history - leaving them nine points off the top four in eighth.

Luckily for Erik ten Hag and Co., they will be able to regroup somewhat this month, with matches against Wigan in the FA Cup (on January 8) and Tottenham (on January 14) their only fixtures. Attention will therefore likely turn to the winter market, although they will be wary of Ratcliffe's unfavourable transfer record at Nice.