Ratcliffe's plans for Man Utd as INEOS billionaire beats Sheikh Jassim to deal

15 October 2023 , 08:29

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Sir Jim Ratcliffe is set to buy 25 per cent of Manchester United (Image: PA)

Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to have influence on sporting decisions at Manchester United as soon as his deal to buy 25 per cent of the club goes through.

Ratcliffe, 70, has beaten rival bidder Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani in the race to strike a deal with the Glazers, ending an 11-month saga after United were put on the market last November. Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim wanted to acquire 100 per cent of the club but on Saturday it emerged that he'd formally withdrawn from the race after the Glazer family rejected his final offer, said to be worth more than $6billion (£4.9bn).

That leaves INEOS founder and chief executive Ratcliffe as the only remaining bidder, with his proposal expected to be ratified at a United board meeting later next week and lead to what he hopes is a staged takeover. Multiple reports say that Britain's second-richest man will promptly undertake a 100-day review of the Red Devils, assessing the club's operations on and off the pitch.

Manager Erik ten Hag's job isn't under threat, despite United's poor form, although structural changes could be made above him. Highly rated director of football Paul Mitchell is claimed to be someone who Ratcliffe would consider appointing, having previously worked at Tottenham, Southampton, RB Leipzig and most recently Monaco.

The 42-year-old was born in Greater Manchester and left his role at Monaco earlier this month. The director of INEOS' sporting empire and former British cycling chief, Sir David Brailsford, is likely to play a key role after being part of Ratcliffe's long-running efforts to own United and visiting Old Trafford for talks in March.

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There also things which Ratcliffe won't be doing, such as renaming Old Trafford. "I hadn't thought of that, but no," the petrochemicals mogul recently admitted when the idea was posed to him. "That would be heresy. I would not change it. It's always Old Trafford."

Have your say! Should the Glazers have accepted Sheikh Jassim's final offer? Give us your verdict in the comments section.

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani wanted to buy 100 per cent of Manchester United but the Glazers rejected several offers

Ratcliffe also confirmed in July: "We have a good offer and we have met with the Glazers a couple of times. We have had good discussions with them. We would still very much like to do it. And we would be doing it for the right reasons. But in the end it is their decision not our decision."

The 70-year-old added: "Teams don't come around very often. There are some special teams and the value of them tends to go up. The value of teams like this one is very special and rare - like art. I don't think the world of sport will change that much in 10 years."

Sir David Brailsford (right) is currently INEOS' director of sport, having formerly been the head of British cycling (Getty Images)

Something else which Ratcliffe wouldn't be keen on doing is spending "dumb money" after criticising the club's transfer business back in 2019. "They haven't got the manager selection right, haven't bought well," he told the Times.

"They have been the dumb money, which you see with players like Fred. United have spent an immense amount since [Sir Alex] Ferguson left and been poor, to put it mildly. Shockingly poor, to be honest.

"We have a different approach here to be moderately intelligent about it. Try to do it more grassroots, trying to locate young talent. Some clubs seem to have an ability to do that, Southampton and Lille. United have done it really poorly. They have lost the plot."

The question will be can Ratcliffe turn words into action?

Failure isn't an option, as he told INEOS TV: "The Manchester United bid would have been unthinkable two or three years ago if we hadn't had some of the experiences - some quite difficult experiences with Laussane and Nice. You can't really contemplate acquiring a brand like Manchester United and failing because the failure is just far too public and excruciating in a deal like that."

Nathan Ridley