Manchester United clearout continues as two more senior boardroom figures depart

Manchester United have continued their clearout under Jim Ratcliffe by confirming the departures of Patrick Stewart and Cliff Baty.

Interim chief executive Stewart and chief financial officer Baty will depart Old Trafford at the end of the current campaign.

Stewart, who replaced Richard Arnold in the position at the start of the year, will be temporarily replaced by Jean-Claude Blanc until Omar Berrada arrives in July, while Roger Bell will take over from Baty.

The news was confirmed by United on their official website on Tuesday.

INEOS Sport chief Blanc is well known to Ratcliffe, who recently bought a 27.7-per-cent stake in United and is in control of footballing affairs.

Bell also has ties to INEOS and will now take up the same CFO role at Old Trafford.

Club statement. #MUFC

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 30, 2024

Ratcliffe said: “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.”

Executive co-chairman 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.”

Since Ratcliffe purchased a minority stake in United, the club have made a number of other changes behind the scenes.

John Murtough stepped down as football director after more than a decade at the club, with Dan Ashworth lined up to replace him, while Jason Wilcox has been appointed as technical director.

United are sixth in the Premier League with four games remaining, raising questions over the future of manager Erik ten Hag under the new regime.