The first phase of their seismic change in seismic change was implemented.

450 staff departures.

Nearly complete overhaul of senior management.

Significant changes were implemented quickly to ensure the process did not drag on and the inevitable discomfort settled more quickly.

After a massive exodus at Manchester United, the reconstruction began.

BBC Sport tells the story of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Old Trafford revolution.

When he invested £1.25 billion for a 27.7% stake in United on Christmas Eve 2023, Ratcliffe promised to return the club to the top of English football.

He also wanted it to be profitable.

The eye-watering financial loss of £113.2m up to 30 June 2024 subsequently led Ratcliffe to say in March that, without action, the club would "collapse" by Christmas.

The impact of the off-field upheaval is clear to all.

Erik ten Hag was replaced by manager Ruben Amorim. More than £450m has been spent on the first team. Ratcliffe has spent £50m on refurbishing United's karting training complex.

The changes behind the scenes were seismic.

Both were motivated.

As they assessed the club's internal workings, senior figures around the ownership concluded it was "over-dimensioned".

In other words, there were too many people and too much work.

They discovered a structure that, in their view, required United to play in the Champions League every season and compete for the Premier League title.

Failure put pressure on the finances.

Having reached such a view and with losses so high, cutting staff numbers was a harsh but inevitable reality.

An initial staff reduction of 250 was made after Ratcliffe's arrival to bring the numbers down.

Internally, it is accepted that the pain was wide-ranging, the shock enormous.

There was a second round of 200 redundancies this year, allowing them to implement a different staff model to use the finances more effectively.

Nowhere is the impact of this change more apparent than in United's data operation.

In an interview with the popular United fanzine Stand in December 2024, Ratcliffe described the club's approach to data analysis as "of the last century".

Formula 1 was considered to be the sport that was at the forefront of using data and artificial intelligence. Every individual component's performance is monitored in detail and success and failure can be measured in hundredths of a second.

As a result, the arrival of Michael Sansone, a director at Mercedes F1, in April was one of the less surprising moves.

Sansone has completely overhauled United's data capabilities, which are now widely used in performance and training.

The exact work done by Sansone is kept strictly under wraps, but one source said that United's data and analytics team's work has accelerated so much that it is now "in the top four teams".

After the second round of job cuts, there was a strategic focus on bringing in people described as "multi-skilled, multi-functional and multi-disciplinary to help in multiple areas".

However, the senior appointments are really catching the eye.

A quick list of the new arrivals in senior positions at Old Trafford's club headquarters reveals 19 names.

Not all departures were forced, and, as in any large organization, a change of ownership can lead to movement downwards - but the scale of the changes was significant.

Two notable figures remain: Colette Roche and Martin Moles.

As the club's chief operating officer, Roche is leading United's representation around their proposed 100,000-capacity new stadium and wider Old Trafford regeneration.

Moles joined United in 2007 and took up the role of general counsel in the summer of 2024, following the departure of Patrick Stewart, who is now CEO of Rangers.

The presence of Roche and Moles is seen as crucial in providing a link to the Ratcliffe era, while club chiefs get a fuller understanding of what might be a shock, even to those - such as chief executive officer Omar Berrada (Barcelona/Manchester City), chief business officer Mark Armstrong (Paris Saint-Germain), performance director Sam Etheridge (Manchester City/Tottenham/FA) and recruitment director Christopher Vielle (Chelsea/Red Bull) - with experience of working at big clubs.

INEOS figure Roger Bell became United's chief financial officer and Kirstin Furber arrived from Channel 4 as people director.

But it goes much further. Senior figures in sports medicine, a new doctor for the first team, a new physiotherapist and a new performance chef. Experts in nutrition and soft tissue. An academy director. A media director. All key parts of any leading Premier League club in 2025.

So many significant figures from the previous era, who had signed major deals, treated players and represented the club's public face, have gone.

No one knows if the future will be better or worse.

As in every other club, outside judgement on the success or failure of the off-field changes can be swift and almost always linked to the first team's results, which, by their nature, can be arbitrary moments.

Internally at United, there is recognition of an unavoidable time lag between starting new processes and seeing their results.

Sometimes, though, it becomes clear that a particular step has been unsuccessful.

Dan Ashworth is clearly in this category. Ashworth's readiness to leave Newcastle to take up the sporting director role at United is still felt at Old Trafford as positive and reflects the changes that are happening and the expected direction.

However, United paid Newcastle £3m in compensation for Ashworth's departure within just five months of his arrival.

Sources deny there was a rift over the selection of Ten Hag's replacement.

But there was disagreement. There was a difference of opinion on how Ashworth's role should work and it did not align, and the parting of ways - another compensation payment, around £4m - was seen as an inevitable consequence.

As we approach the second anniversary of Ratcliffe's involvement, United is a significantly changed organization.

This huge loss has been reduced to a manageable size. United's most recent accounts to 30 June 2025 showed they were £33m in the red. It is expected the club will eventually become profitable.

The Glazer family, it has been stressed, are not passive observers. They remain active and involved. But the focus now is on Ratcliffe and his leadership team.

"What happens next week or in the next transfer window is part of life, but the eyes must be on the medium and long term," says a club insider.

Any form of European football this season is the goal.

But these grand changes have not been made to achieve it. The goals are bigger.

"If you are Manchester United, the thinking process has to be to compete for the Premier League and Champions League every year," says someone who understands how the club is run.

That is huge pressure. But it should also be seen as a privilege.