Jim Ratcliffe has warned against the prospect of Manchester United trying to land superstar signings like Jude Bellingham or Kylian Mbappe.
The Ineos chairman is taking control of footballing operations at United following his recent minority purchase and wants to turn them back into the force they once were.
However, he believes spending big on marquee signings is not the way to prosper.
Appearing as a guest on Geraint Thomas' Cycling Club podcast, the 71-year-old was asked whether he would try and sign England star Bellingham.
He replied: "He is a great footballer. It's not where our focus is, the solution isn't spending a lot of money on a couple of great players.
"They have done that, if you look at the last 10 years, they have spent a lot of money on a couple of great players.
"The first thing we need to do is get the right people in the right boxes who are managing and organising the club.
"And make sure we get recruitment right, it is such a vital part of football today."
Later in the podcast he was given a choice of signing Mbappe for United or cyclist Tadej Pogacar for his Ineos team and he said: "I would rather sign the next Mbappe rather than spend a fortune buying success.
"It's not that clever buying Mbappe. Anyone could figure that one out. More challenging is to find the next Mbappe or next Bellingham or next Roy Keane."
Radcliffe is working with his long-term right-hand man Dave Brailsford at United, with Omar Berrada incoming as chief executive.
And he said it would be a "longer road" to make United great again.
"The two people who are most focused on it would be Dave and myself, in terms of how we resolve it all," he added.
"We've now got Omar Berrada (above) of course, our new CEO from Manchester City, who is still on gardening leave at the moment, he'll be a big part of it.
"But it's Dave and myself really.
"You have to believe with Manchester Utd, if we get all the details right, all the right people in the right boxes, doing the right things in the right environment, that sporting elite environment that the results will drop out the bottom.
"Those things are not right at Manchester United today as we've said very clearly.
"It's not a light switch, it's a much longer road to travel because there's so many aspects to it."
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