Erik ten Hag expresses Ineos hope after Man Utd's Sir Jim Ratcliffe deal is announced

Erik ten Hag said he is 'looking forward' to working with Ineos, following the news that Sir Jim Ratcliffe's 25 percent purchase of Manchester United has been agreed.

The news broke on Christmas Eve that, after a over a year of speculation, Ratcliffe is set to become a minority stakeholder at United, once he passes the Premier League's Owners’ and Directors’ Test, along with other regulatory processes.

Ineos Director of Sport Sir Dave Brailsford was at Old Trafford on Tuesday night as United came from two goals down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 in the Premier League, and Ten Hag said after the game that he feels the recent news can only be a positive for United.

"I don’t think it [the takeover process] has had an impact on the players," he opined. "I was kept informed during the whole process, first from Richard Arnold and lately from Patrick Stewart. I knew what was going on.

"We are looking forward and I think it is a positive for the club that they are stepping in. They have a lot of experience in sport at the highest level: F1, cycling, other football clubs and it can only help and support us to get our targets.  We are looking forward; they want to work with us and we want to work with them."

Ineos and Ratcliffe will take charge of football operations at United once the minority takeover is complete - although that is expected to take a period of between six to eight weeks. The British billionaire's agreement will see him purchase a quarter of the club's shares for a price of $1.3bn (£1.03bn), while a further $300m (£236m) will be invested into club infrastructure.

Meanwhile, United's 3-2 win on Boxing Day, secured via Alejandro Garnacho's brace and Rasmus Hojlund's first Premier League goal, means the Red Devils moved up to sixth place and are just five points off the Champions League spots.