‘I can see him at Man Utd’ – Ratcliffe tipped for devastating Crystal Palace raid with second major deal to follow

Manchester United are being tipped to push through a move to appoint Crystal Palace sporting director Dougie Freedman to work alongside Dan Ashworth with Sir Jim Ratcliffe leaving no stone unturned in his pursuit of greatness, and with a second devasting raid on the Eagles expected to follow.

British billionaire Ratcliffe has bought a 27.7% stake in Manchester United and is seemingly wasting no time in assembling a crack team of specialists behind the scenes to help restore the Red Devils to the pinnacle of English and European football. And having invested £1.4bn of his cash to claim over a quarter of the Glazers’ shares, the INEOS owner is quickly making a number of high-profile appointments.

Omar Berrada has arrived from Manchester City as CEO, with former Juventus and PSG director Jean-Claude Blanc’s appointment set to follow in the coming weeks.

They are also close to finalising the arrival of Ashworth as the club’s first-ever sporting director, with the 52-year-old regarded as one of the best in the game from his spells with Newcastle, Brighton and the English FA.

His arrival, though, will not come cheap after a report on Wednesday lifted the lid on the eye-watering compensation package United had agreed to pay Newcastle for Ashworth’s services.

READ MORE ~ Dan Ashworth: 10 worst signings amid doubts Man Utd director target is worth astonishing compensation fee

Nonetheless, and despite his appointment set to be ratified in the coming days and allowing Ashworth to get to work on strengthening United’s squad, Ratcliffe reportedly wants another big name to joint him at Old Trafford in the form of Crystal Palace guru Freedman.

The 49-year-old Scot has done an incredible job at Selhurst Park down the years, identifying a string of relative unknowns and helping secure the Eagles’ place in the Premier League.

Man Utd told why Dougie Freedman will be a brilliant move

His biggest successes in recent years are undoubtedly Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise and Marc Guehi, with the trio signed for a combined fee of around £42m, both collectively worth more than three times that in the modern market.

But there have been other successes too and he was earmarked as a candidate to take the top sporting director job at United as a result.

However, former Palace chairman Simon Jordan, speaking to talkSPORT, claims that, despite the imminent appointment of Ashworth, they still want to bring in Freedman too to work alongside him, potentially as his assistant or even in a technical director role.

Talking up his merits, Jordan said of Freedman: “I can see him at Man Utd, and I am pretty sure they are interested. Dougie is a good thinker, a good spotter of talent, and a good negotiator.

“I have known Dougie at 25 years now, and he’s someone that I’m very fond of. He is capable in the position he is in.”

He added: “The players who got [Crystal Palace] promotion were his team. Players he recruited like Yannick Bolasie and Mile Jedinak

“I think the space he’s in now – where he can think clearly and make decisions based on recruitment – is a great space for Dougie. I wouldn’t be surprised (to see him at United). It’s a good fit and could be distinctly likely to happen.”

Palace star Michael Olise tops Man Utd wishlist

Jordan also thinks Freedman’s transfer successes make him of high appeal to Ratcliffe, adding: “I think they [United] are building. People will look and think; ‘Dougie to United?’. But you could say the same about Dan Ashworth.

“Players Palace have recruited, such as Eze and players like that, are players Dougie signed. He works well in teams and he is a very clever operator. He is not controversial and doesn’t get in people’s faces.

“He’s got plenty of steel, don’t worry about that. I think, if he gets the opportunity, he is well worthy of it.”

United are likely to target at least four new signings this summer to seriously strengthen their squad and with Ratcliffe wanting a new defender, midfielder and striker to strengthen their spine.

However, with doubts over Facundo Pellistri, Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood, there is a school of thought that claims United also want to sign a new right-sided attacker this summer.

And one name that appears as a stand-out and whom has been confirmed as a bona fide target of the club is Palace star Olise.

He has emerged as one of the most consistent wingers this season, proving an absolute snip for the £8.2m the Eagles paid Reading in summer 2021.

He contributed an impressive 11 Premier League assists last season, with the France U21 international adding goals to his game this season, having netted six times in just eight starts so far.

Having signed a new deal last season, he has an exit clause set for £60m with TEAMtalk revealing on Wednesday exactly why United are very confident of sealing his signing this summer and making him the first arrival of the Ratcliffe era.

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