Sir Alex Ferguson comes face-to-face with Sir Jim Ratcliffe for first time since Man Utd axe

Sir Alex Ferguson has seen for the first time since the chief told the club's former manager his contract would be ending - but the two men still shared a laugh.

The INEOS boss has made several controversial calls during his time at Old Trafford and recently informed the legendary Scot that at the conclusion of this season.

Ferguson penned that deal when he retired in 2013 and has been a regular at the club's games. In an effort to cut costs though Ratcliffe told the 82-year-old that his more than £2million salary would be ending. It was reported that Ferguson was told of the decision face-to-face and sources claim it was amicable and there is no issue between the club and Ferguson, who remains a non-executive director.

Now Ferguson and Ratcliffe have encountered each other for the first time since that decision was made with both men present in Manchester for the game against on Sunday afternoon, but there didn't appear to be any bad feeling.

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Ratcliffe has already been responsible for a raft of off-field changes, including a shake-up of the club's backroom structure and a number of redundancies after outlining plans to axe 250 members of staff. He has underlined the need to raise more funds for the manager to invest in the squad.

United's minority owner has previously made his admiration known for Ferguson, who has watched on as the club struggle to match the success he enjoyed with Erik ten Hag the latest manager to lose his job.

Speaking back in February, Ratcliffe said: “He was the first person I met when I went up there which I think was the second week of January and I had a meeting from 9am to 10am at his house and I left at 1pm. He never stopped. He’s got a lot of experience, a lot of stories to tell and a lot of thoughts about the club."

Ferguson's association with the club though meant that the desire to remove his contract was always going to anger some, especially those who played under him.

Eric Cantona was among those to speak out as he said: “Sir should be able to do anything he wants at the club until the day he dies. Such a lack of respect. It’s totally scandalous. Sir Alex Ferguson will be my boss forever! And I throw them all in a big bag of s***!”

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