Man Utd end Sir Alex Ferguson's multi-million Ineos ambassadorial contract

Reports claim Sir Alex Ferguson has been informed that his multi-million pound ambassadorial contract with Manchester United has been terminated by the club's owners Ineos

Ineos, part-owners of Manchester United, have terminated a multi-million pound ambassadorial contract with Sir Alex Ferguson, according to The Mirror.

The 82 year old legendary Scot, who stepped down after 26 years at the helm in 2013, had signed an agreement to become a global ambassador for the club soon after his retirement.

The deal, reportedly worth over £2million per year and in place since October 2013, has now been ended by Ineos. They claim Ferguson was informed in a face-to-face meeting with Sir Jim Ratcliffe that the club were looking to cut costs and could no longer afford to continue paying him beyond this season.

However, The Mirror says sources have indicated that the meeting was friendly and there is no issue between the club and Ferguson, who remains a non-executive director. Ratcliffe acquired a minority stake in his boyhood club last December and has overseen numerous off-field changes, including a revamp of the club's backroom structure and several redundancies after announcing plans to lay off 250 staff members.

Despite these cost-cutting measures, the club were the second-highest spenders among Premier League clubs in this summer's transfer market, committing more than £200million on transfers in an effort to reshape manager Erik ten Hag's squad. Ratcliffe has previously spoken highly of Ferguson, who is the most successful manager in the club's history, having won 38 trophies during his illustrious tenure at Old Trafford.

Back in February, Ratcliffe recalled his encounter with the legendary figure, saying: "He was the first person I met when I went up there which I think was the second week of January and I had a meeting from 9am to 10am at his house and I left at 1pm. He never stopped. He's got a lot of experience, a lot of stories to tell and a lot of thoughts about the club.

He added, "I don't think he has been encouraged to get involved but he is still very thoughtful about the club and he has an immense amount of experience. He really understands the values and traditions of the club and what it's all about. He's still fiercely competitive, Alex Ferguson."