August 18, (THEWILL) – Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who gained notoriety in April when he made a last-minute offer to purchase Chelsea for £4 billion, now appears to have Manchester United in his sights.
THEWILL recalls that ahead to Roman Abramovich’s move putting Chelsea up for sale on March 1st, the British billionaire shared an interest in purchasing the club, however his later takeover offer was turned down.
Ratcliffe serves as chairman and CEO of Ineos, the world’s fourth-largest chemicals firm. In April 2020, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated Ratcliffe’s net worth to be $28.2 billion (about £21.2 billion), ranking him as the 55th richest person in the world.
Ratcliffe’s spokeswoman has now verified the Englishman’s desire to bid for United saying: , “…if the club [Man Utd] 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.”
It comes as exciting news for Man Utd supporters, who are extremely miffed with the Glazer family’s ownership and management style. If it works out, it will be the third football club owned by Ratcliffe and Ineos. They acquired FC Lausanne-Sport of the Swiss Super League in 2017 before finalising a deal to acquire Nice of Ligue 1 two years later.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
