Man Utd co-owner Ineos in talks to cut short sponsorship deal with Tottenham

Ineos, the co-owner of Manchester United, is in talks with Tottenham to cut short a sponsorship deal with the north London club.

Chemicals firm Ineos agreed a five-year deal with Spurs in 2022 – before its founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought a stake in United – for Ineos Grenadier to become the London team’s official 4×4 vehicle partner.

The PA news agency understands Ineos is now in amicable discussions with Spurs to bring that agreement to an early end, although nothing has yet been agreed and talks remain ongoing.

Neither Ineos nor Spurs have commented, but it follows New Zealand Rugby announcing last week it was launching legal proceedings against Ineos after alleging that the first instalment of 2025 sponsorship money due under a six-year agreement struck in 2021 had not been paid.

Ineos issued a statement in response to the reports around its deal with NZR, saying it was implementing “cost-saving measures”, pointing out that its European businesses had been severely impacted by “high energy costs and extreme carbon taxes”.

Ineos said it was seeking to “adjust” its NZR deal.

“Unfortunately, rather than working towards a managed solution, New Zealand Rugby have chosen to pursue legal action against their sponsor,” the Ineos statement last week concluded.

Ineos’ co-ownership of United has been turbulent, to say the least.

The club opted to stand by Erik ten Hag as manager in the summer but dismissed him last October after a poor start to the season.

Results have failed to improve under his successor Ruben Amorim, and in December it was confirmed Dan Ashworth had left his post as sporting director, having only been in the role since July last year.

Sir Dave Brailsford, one of Ratcliffe’s key sports advisors at Ineos, is reported to have taken on a more hands-on role at United since Ashworth’s exit.

Ineos and Ratcliffe have drawn criticism over their attempts to raise revenue and cut costs at the Premier League club.

Fans expressed outrage over the mid-season decision to remove concessionary prices for general admission tickets, while there has been a wide-ranging redundancy programme.

Around a quarter of what had been a workforce of just over 1,000 people departed over the summer and the PA news agency understands more cuts are now under consideration as they seek to cut losses that totalled £300million over the last three years.

Meanwhile the October announcement that Sir Alex Ferguson will step away from a reported £2million-a-year ambassador role at the end of the season, as part of the cost-cutting exercise, has not gone down well in some quarters.