Omar Berrada sent Sir Alex Ferguson warning about Man United axe last month

Back in February, Sir Jim Ratcliffe made an unsurprising but candid admission about Manchester United’s position within Financial Fair Play.

“The club’s spent quite heavily in the last couple of seasons. So that does impact FFP going forward because they’ve used quite a large part of their allowance. How much will it be an issue? I don’t know the full answer to that question at the moment.”

Eight months later, he has offered a few. Many of them have been unpopular, such as the axing of 250 staff jobs, reportedly cancelling the staff Christmas party and taking away club credit cards from some senior executives.

READ MORE: Why Sir Alex Ferguson is stepping down as Manchester United ambassador

READ MORE: 'He understands' - Sir Jim Ratcliffe makes bold Sir Alex Ferguson call in latest Man Utd cuts

There were whispers that Bruno Fernandes had offered to pay for players' families to make the trip down to Wembley for May’s FA Cup final after such funding had been cut. This was, according to reports, rejected out of fear it would make the club look bad.

The decision to stand down Sir Alex Ferguson from his ambassadorial role will not rub off well on some, perhaps many, supporters. This is United’s greatest manager of all-time, who won 38 trophies.

He is the one responsible for taking United to the global financial heights that the club still benefits from today, despite the on-pitch mire that has developed since his retirement. But Ratcliffe has shown to be ruthless and no-one is out of bounds.

Ferguson was the first person he met at United. “I think [it] was the second week of January. I had a meeting from 9am to 10am at his house and I left at 1pm,” Ratcliffe detailed earlier this year.

“He never stopped. He’s got a lot of experience, a lot of stories to tell and a lot of thoughts about the club. 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.” This glowing appraisal is why Ferguson will stay on as an honorary non-executive director.

This role is thought to be purely ceremonial, but it would be outrageous, disrespectful and foolish not to make use of his wisdom on certain club matters. Part of the reason behind the decision to move away from his ambassadorial role is due to time commitments.

But the other, and perhaps more pertinent, reason seems to be related to costs. Financial records from 2014 state Ferguson received £2.16million for the first eight months of his ambassadorial role. He has kept the position ever since.

Sources have told MEN Sport that the meeting to inform Ferguson of the decision to relinquish his role as ambassador was completely amicable and that the United icon is always welcome at matches. Ratcliffe has been seen sitting next to the Scot during several previous games, and this may continue.

Whether the request to walk away from his role came as a total surprise to Ferguson is perhaps doubtful. He has seen several long-serving senior colleagues either resign or be moved on under Ratcliffe’s regime.

Furthermore, he knows the financial situation the club finds itself in after years of misguidance under the Glazers. Last month, United released the club’s full-year fiscal results for the first time under the new hierarchy.

In a conjoining statement, new CEO Omar Berrada made clear what lay ahead after it was revealed United recorded a £113.2m net loss for the 2023/24 campaign.

He said: "We are working towards greater financial sustainability and making changes to our operations to make them more efficient, to ensure we are directing our resources to enhancing on-pitch performance.”

This follows Ratcliffe’s promise to fans, in which he said: “I think absolutely our priority with Manchester United is performance on the pitch.”

Tough decisions regarding club operations have to be made on that journey, with Ratcliffe acknowledging: “we need to take the rough with the smooth.”

Ferguson’s exit at the end of this season undoubtedly falls into the ‘rough’ category. But Ratcliffe is branding no department off-limits when it comes to assessing value for money, even when it comes to United’s greatest boss. Brutal.