Sir Jim Ratcliffe latest: Man Utd dressing room 'alarmed' by co-owner's controversial comments

Sir Jim Ratcliffe's controversial comments about immigration have allegedly not been well received by sections of the Manchester United dressing room.

Man United's co-owner said earlier this week that the UK had been "colonised by immigrants", which has led to a huge backlash from a number of major figures.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has hit out at the remarks, branding them "offensive and wrong", and Ratcliffe has since issued an apology that his "choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe" but insisted that it was "important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration".

Man United said that it "prides itself on being an inclusive and welcoming club" in a statement which was released on Thursday, but no mention was made of Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe comments 'not welcomed' by Man Utd dressing room

According to the Daily Mail, sections of the dressing room at Man United have been 'alarmed' by the comments from the British billionaire.

The Red Devils have 17 overseas players in their first-team squad at this moment in time.

Man United's statement was allegedly 'worked on for hours', with the club accepting that they needed to respond to the fierce criticism of Ratcliffe.

The Football Association are believed to be currently assessing whether Ratcliffe's comments, which were made to Sky News at the European Industry Summit in Antwerp on Wednesday, have brought the game into disrepute.

Ratcliffe, who became a minority shareholder of Man United in February 2024, also addressed the "very unpopular" decisions that had been made at Old Trafford.

Ratcliffe's comments have been widely criticised

“I’ve seen quite a bit of this at the football club. If you do difficult things, which we felt that we had to do at Manchester United… we felt like they were the right things to do. But you do become very unpopular for a while,” Ratcliffe told Sky News.

“Well, I’ve been very unpopular at Manchester United because we’ve made lots of changes. But for the better, in my view. And I think we’re beginning to see some evidence in the football club that that’s beginning to pay off.”

The 73-year-old has overseen a raft of redundancies across the club since taking charge of the sporting department two years ago.

Man United have no fixture this weekend due to their early elimination from the FA Cup, so Michael Carrick's next press conference will not come until the end of next week, when he will preview the Premier League clash with Everton, scheduled for February 23.