Ineos boss, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has shown interest in taking the reins at Manchester United if current owners Glazer decide to sell.
A spokesperson for the UK billionaire told the Times that if the club’s current US-based owners were wanting to sell, Sir Ratcliffe would be keen to take over as chairman this is despite the club’s rocky start to the season.
This was said in response to a Bloomberg article that claimed Glazers were thinking about selling a minority stake in the Manchester football team.
The report caused stock prices for the red devils to shoot up to £11.36 a share, a 7.1% increase, giving the club a stock market value of £1.88 billion.
Ineos recently signed three back-to-back deals with SINOPEC, worth a combined £5.8 billion which are expected to generate a combined turnover of around £8.33bn.
Ratcliffe, who is a Manchester United fan, put in a late bid for Chelsea football club in May that ultimately failed, showing his interest in owning a team in the English premiership.
The Ineos boss usually looks for full ownership in deals, however, he is willing to claim a minority share if those involved could come to an agreement for him to take full ownership of the club that is currently sitting bottom of the table at a later date.
Sir Ratcliffe seeks to invest in improving the infrastructure of the club, giving the Man U stadium, Old Trafford, a “major overhaul” to modernise the facility, if he successfully takes ownership of the club.
This news might come as a welcomed relief for Manchester United fans as supporters have been protesting against Glazer’s ownership of the team.
However, Bloomberg has said that the Glazers are in preliminary talks on bringing in new investment, which indicates they are not ready to sell the club, which could be valued at up to £5 billion.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is not the only billionaire rumoured to be in connection with Manchester United.
Elon Musk, chief executive of Space X and Tesla, took to Twitter to say “I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome”.
Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2022
After receiving thousands of replies the 51-year-old billionaire followed up with: “No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I’m not buying any sports teams.”
Later adding: “Standup is my side hustle.”
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