Why two major executive figures are leaving Manchester United as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Joel Glazer comment

Manchester United have confirmed that they have made two further changes to their executive leadership structure.

Interim Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Stewart and Chief Financial Officer, Cliff Baty, have decided to leave the club by mutual consent at the end of the season. Patrick will be replaced as CEO by Jean Claude Blanc until the arrival of Omar Berrada on 13 July, while Baty will be replaced as CFO by Roger Bell.

Speaking after the announcement Joel Glazer said: “I would like to thank Patrick and Cliff for their dedicated service to Manchester United and wish them well for the future. Both have been a source of invaluable advice and expertise over many years, and Patrick has served an important role as interim CEO during this transitional phase.”

Sir Jim Ratcliffe added: “I would like to personally thank both Patrick and Cliff for their support in helping us get to know the club and making us feel welcome and I respect their decisions to now move on as we establish a new management team for the club.”

United believe that time is of the essence if they are to fulfil their ambition of returning the club to its former glories and the club has decided to push ahead with their new leadership team as soon as possible. By making the changes now, the club feel it should give them three months to accelerate their transition and ensure they do not lose any momentum ahead of the arrival of Berrada in mid-July.

Club sources insist the long-term strategy is unchanged, with a desire for a performance-driven organisation focused on delivering success on the pitch, while at the same time generating strong commercial growth.

In order to do so, United believe they need operational efficiency at all levels of the organisation in order to be more agile, and to be able to stay within the boundaries of Premier League and UEFA financial regulations.