Football News: Jean-Claude Blanc as Manchester United CEO

The more I've looked into Jean-Claude Blanc (Blanc), the more I really like the idea of him becoming the Manchester United CEO. While a lot will likely be made about a new DoF or whatever role it is someone like Ashworth or Mitchell will take up at the club and the role they will play in rebuilding the playing squad. It will be how the CEO goes about running the club that will dictate how much rope or what the options are for a new DoF.

Blanc did a phenomenal job of getting Juventus back on track after their relegation to Serie B. Under him they managed to rebuild the side, cut costs massively, while also rebuilding the stadium and being the first club owned stadium in Italy. They managed to gain promotion back to Serie A and even become the dominant side in Italy under and due to the work of Blanc.

Their relegation seriously threatened the existence of the club, yet Blanc helped steer them right. Then, during his time with Paris Saint-Germain F.C. (PSG), he helped come up with the collaboration with the Jordan brand, which has massively boosted PSG's revenues by making them a fashion brand, as well as a football club. That increase in revenue is what enabled PSG to spend huge on players like Neymar, Mbappe and Messi on fees and wages, by balancing the books and keeping the club within FFP regulations.

With Blanc heading the club over the next 5-10 years, I'd be very confident that he would help to restructure the club to both reduce outgoings (possibly remove or reduce the debt), while also increasing revenue potential. While using that money created and saved to rebuild the squad into a younger, hungrier and more competitive side, and hopefully go someway to improving the infrastructure at the club.

If we have been able to spend £1.2bn on transfer fees alone over the past decade, and probably spending a similar amount on wages. Then You'd expect under someone like Blanc we would see the wage bill reduced by at least a third, and with a clear plan and good scouting maybe see the transfer fees spent cut by at least a third if not more. That would free up £700-900m over the next decade.

If we get the debt restructured to bring down its cost (something he managed at Juventus very successfully), as well as possibly tap new revenue streams and see an increase in them through novel and progressive marketing then we could see a further £300-500m earned/ saved by the club over the next decade.

Pair those together and we could see Blanc free up/ save/ create between £1bn and £1.5bn over the next decade (maybe more) that could be redirected to debt removal or improving or replacing the infrastructure at the club.

While the club has been good at finding more sponsorship deals, none of it has been that clever or really maximised the earning potential. While we have wasted so much money in other areas.

Written by Shappy January 09 2024 19:42:40