The world’s greatest and richest are lining up to make bids for Manchester United. A familiar name has emerged as one of the latest to consider making an offer with the Glazers ready to sell the club to the highest bidder.
English billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is reportedly very interested in United and may potentially make an offer to buy the club, according to Santi Auona of Foot Mercato.
Santi adds that Ratcliffe was offered a chance to bid for Liverpool, which he declined. The billionaire is said to want to make a bid for Manchester United instead.
New Potential Owner Lines Up Bid for Manchester United
Who is Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Ratcliffe is the CEO of INEOS and is the current owner of OGC Nice. He has already revealed some interest in Manchester United’s sale back in August.
A spokesperson for Ratcliffe said in August: “If the club is for sale, Jim is definitely a potential buyer. If something like this was possible, we would be interested in talking with a view to long-term ownership. This is not about the money that has been spent or not spent.
“Jim is looking at what can be done now and, knowing how important the club is to the city, it feels like the time is right for a reset.”
Ratcliffe was born in Oldham and is one of the richest men in Britain and the 124th richest man in Forbes’ world rankings. He founded INEOS chemicals group in 1998 and Ratcliffe now has a net worth of over £11 billion.
🚨Info: La banque Goldman Sachs a proposé Liverpool à Jim Ratcliffe 🏴.
▶️ Le propriétaire de l’OGC Nice a décliné et souhaite formuler une offre officielle pour racheter Manchester United.
▶️ La vente du club de M.U est géré par la banque Rain.https://t.co/Pp8YIs42v1
— Santi Aouna (@Santi_J_FM) November 27, 2022
Read More: FSG Put Liverpool Up For Sale
Investments in Football
In August 2019 Ratcliffe became the owner of OGC Nice for the princely sum of £88 million.
Through INEOS, Ratcliffe already owns Swiss club Lausanne–Sport in November 2017.
His portfolio also transcends football, with investments in cycling and sailing.
Now he is reportedly setting his sights on a club that he has supported all his life.
Mercato report that there is no current official sale price for the purchase of Manchester United. Previous valuations put the sale at between £4.3bn to £7.7bn. However no sale price is being offered to potential suitors as the Glazers look to find the best price.
No final decisions have been made and Mercato report that the next few weeks are ‘shaping up to be decisive’.
Read More: Manchester United Can Imagine Bringing Back 147-Goal ‘Extraordinary’ Forward
Media Shy Ratcliffe Focuses On Nice in a ‘More Serious Way’
Ratcliffe prefers to stay out of the limelight but recently felt provoked to make a statement to the Nice fans, especially with rumours swirling around about his interest in United.
Even just as recently as October, Ratcliffe has suggested that Nice is becoming a more serious project than merely diversifying the portfolio.
He said: “We were fairly hands-off with Nice for the first two or three years, and we’ve got much more involved as of this summer. I’m sure you’re going to ask me the obvious questions about these bigger clubs, but we’ve got quite a focus on what we can actually do with Nice in a more serious way.”
“I’m a lifelong Manchester United fan. I was there in ’99, the most remarkable match in ’99 in Barcelona. That’s deeply etched in my mind, but Manchester United is owned by the Glazer family. I’ve met Joel and Avram, and they are the nicest people, I have to say. They’re proper gentlemen, really nice people, and they don’t want to sell it. It’s owned by the children of the father, and they don’t want to sell. If it had been for sale in the summer, yes, we would probably have had a go following on from the Chelsea thing.”
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