Rio Ferdinand calls Man Utd stars 's**t' as Ruben Amorim and INEOS urged to get brutal

Rio Ferdinand wants INEOS to be just as ruthless with Manchester United’s weak links as they have been with other staff members at the club.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co. have not been shy in making major changes at Old Trafford since completing their minority buy-in in February. Already they have sacked Erik ten Hag, completely overhauled the transfers department, raised ticket prices and made 250 other staff members redundant.

In the latest twist of events, sporting director Dan Ashworth left United after only five months in his new position, with a clash of personalities believed to be at the route of the decision, which was presented as a mutual split by the club.

With the dust still settling on Ashworth’s shock exit, six-time Premier League winner Ferdinand has given his verdict on INEOS’ take-no-prisoners approach to running his old club. And he feels it can be a good thing if they are just as ruthless with the playing squad as they have been in other departments.

“Dan Ashworth and his departure from Manchester United… confusion is the first thing that comes to mind,” the 46-year-old told Rio Ferdinand Presents. “With the staff they’re culling after being there for so many years, I hope they’re just as brutal with the s**t players that are there.

“If there are any s**t players that are there, either they’ve been there too long, or the ones who just ain’t good enough, be as brutal as they have been! Get them the f**k out, quick. ASAP. And I hope they’re like that.

“For better or worse, at least they’ve made a bloody decision. That’s the way I think about it. You look at the things that are going on with ticket prices, laying off of staff – they’re very definitive. They’re like, ‘we’re doing this and we don’t care about the noise’.”

United showed the ruthless streak mentioned by Ferdinand during the summer, when eight permanent sales were sanctioned, four contracts were allowed to run down and Jadon Sancho was shipped out on loan.

They also backed former manager Ten Hag with a raft of new signings, including big-money acquisitions Leny Yoro and Manuel Ugarte. However, new manager Ruben Amorim may be about to pay the price for that spending spree.

Although the Portuguese has inherited a squad which was built to fit a completely different system to his own, United will reportedly hand him only a modest budget during the January transfer window, with INEOS hoping he can turn things around by unlocking the potential of several underperforming squad members.