An AC Milan icon, the man behind Atletico Madrid's success & the six candidates to become the next Man Utd sporting director as Sir Jim Ratcliffe eyes John Murtough replacement

Sir Jim Ratcliffe still hasn't officially completed his minority takeover of Manchester United but the INEOS chief is already moving pieces on the chessboard and plotting how to return his beloved club to their former glories.

Chief executive Richard Arnold has already left and INEOS Sport CEO Jean-Claude Blanc, who has been dubbed 'the Lionel Messi of sport business' is expected to take his place and lead the club's revamp. But Ratcliffe is not about to stop there and a new sporting director is on the cards.

Ratcliffe has been scathing of United's recruitment strategy in the past, describing it as ''shockingly poor" and labelling the Red Devils as 'the dumb money". And, looking at the club's steep decline since Sir Alex Ferguson left, who could disagree?

Despite spending around £400m ($497m) in the last two years United have endured a horrendous start to the Premier League season and are on the brink of exiting the Champions League, a damning indictment of current sporting director John Murtough's time in charge.

Here are the candidates Ratcliffe and INEOS colleague Sir Dave Brailsford are looking at to lead United's reboot...