The transformative sporting force behind Sir Jim Ratcliffe hoping to revolutionise Manchester United

You can board the Sir Dave Brailsford train up Snowdon in North Wales.

One of the carriages is named after the 59-year-old, who moved to Wales as a child and was educated in the north of the country where he learned the language. It's another summit scaled for Brailsford, who conquered the cycling world on track and road and now looks set to play a major part in the next chapter of Manchester United.

The sporting supremo is currently Director of Sport at Ineos, the company owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe who is set to acquire a 25 per cent stake at Old Trafford and take on responsibility for sporting matters. So it's hard not to envisage a role for Brailsford.

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He made his name as a cycling guru, revolutionising the sport in the UK first via a glut of Olympic medals and then sustained success in the Tour de France. He admits he never particularly thought of becoming involved in football but Brailsford has always adopted an open and innovative mind to sporting success. He looked to others while involved in cycling, bringing in coaches from other sports and outside sport entirely to garner more knowledge and opinions.

His method was popularised by the 'marginal gains' approach and it tempted Sir Alex Ferguson across from United to the Manchester Velodrome in 2008 for a two-way chat on success and longevity. Now Brailsford is set to find himself walking the same corridors as Fergie and attempting to solve some of the same puzzles.

United are without a Premier League title since the legendary Scot's departure and don't look close to ending that drought in