It is 3:15 AM in a dimly lit Kemaman mamak stall, and the air is a potent cocktail of diesel fumes, frying onions, and the collective anxiety of a handful Manchester United fans. On the flickering screen, Michael Carrick—a man who radiates the calm energy of a librarian who secretly knows kung fu—has United playing with a fluidity and grit we haven’t seen in years. We are watching Kobbie Mainoo glide across the pitch like a gazelle on silk while marvelling at a squad that actually reflects the world. Life, for a fleeting moment, is good.

But then, the news cycle arrives to ruin the party, carrying the latest utterances from the man who supposedly “saved” Manchester United from the Glazers, Sir Jim Ratcliffe. In a recent interview that can only be described as “grandpa has had too much sherry,” Jim told Sky News that the UK has been “colonised by immigrants”. He then proceeded to lecture the peasantry on “courageous” policy while citing debunked population statistics that have the scientific backing of a flat-earth convention. From where I sat in Malaysia, the irony isn’t just annoying—it is horrendous.

To us international EPL fans, Manchester United has always been the “Theatre of Dreams”—a place where it doesn’t matter if you’re a Manchester, Madrid, or Maran. Yet, the co-owner sounded like he was reading from a script designed to divide rather than unite. There is something spectacularly “thick-skinned”—or muka tembok, as we say here—about a billionaire who officially moved his tax residency to Monaco in 2020 lecturing the British public on economic strain.

By moving his shadow to the Mediterranean, Ratcliffe has avoided an estimated £4 billion in UK taxes. That is £4 billion that could have funded the very hospitals and schools he now claims are being “overwhelmed” by the people who actually turn up to work in them. It takes a truly gargantuan amount of nerve to siphon wealth out of a country’s pockets while pointing a bony finger at those who arrive with nothing but the desire to work. While he complains about people on benefits “costing too much,” his company, Ineos, has actively lobbied for and received hundreds of millions in UK state aid. Apparently, when Sir Jim takes government money, it’s an “investment,” but when a vulnerable person needs a hand, it’s a “burden.”

Coming from a country that actually was colonised, by the English, hearing a British billionaire use that word to describe doctors, bus drivers, and hospitality workers is offensive. Migration is a choice made for opportunity or survival; colonisation was a system of extraction and subjugation. When Ratcliffe uses that language, he isn’t just being “politically incorrect”—he is being historically illiterate. He is alienating a global fanbase that has seen the real effects of the word he uses so carelessly. Does he realise that United’s global commercial value—the very thing that makes his investment worthwhile—is built on the support of people in the “colonies” he seems so wary of?

The real tragedy of Ratcliffe’s “senile” rhetoric is that it distracts from the brilliant work happening on the pitch. Michael Carrick, recently named Premier League Manager of the Month for January 2026, has been a thorn up the bottom, and that’s because I’m a Liverpool fan and I recognise brilliance. While Ratcliffe divides, Carrick unites by reviving the Academy spirit, giving players like Mainoo the freedom to lead, and masterminding wins against the likes of City and Arsenal. He is building a locker room where nationality is secondary to the badge.

Carrick represents the Manchester United we love: quiet, hard-working, and inclusive. Ratcliffe represents a dated, billionaire-class entitlement that thinks it can buy a club’s soul while insulting its heritage. Manchester United even took the extraordinary step of issuing a statement affirming its commitment to “equality, diversity, and inclusion” shortly after his remarks. When your own club has to indirectly “fact-check” you to protect its brand, you know you’ve crossed a line.

Jim might have the money to buy the bricks of Old Trafford, but he is clearly bonkers or oblivious to the spirit of the people who fill it—whether they are in the Stretford End or a mamak stall in Kemaman. Manchester United fans do not want a “Monaco mouthpiece” associated to the club vomiting far-right talking points. They want a leader who understands that United’s strength has always been its ability to bring the world together, not tear it apart.