Reports in England claim that Britain’s richest man Jim Ratcliffe has enquired about taking over Manchester United but was put off by the asking price.

Ratcliffe, whose worth is £21.05 billion, is chemical engineer turned petrochemicals tycoon and the CEO of London-based chemicals company Ineos.

He allegedly, according to Utdreport, approached the Glazers and expressed his interest in buying the club, but did not see any value in the deal offered by the American family who are currently in charge at Old Trafford.

The 66-year-old previously said back in May of this year: “I’m a tortured Manchester United fan. We [Ineos] have dipped our toe in the water with football,” when quizzed over the possibility of purchasing a football club.

At the time, Ratcliffe was linked with a bid to take over Chelsea from Russian owner Roman Abramovich, a rumour Ratcliffe refused to rule out.

Sir Ratcliffe, who is also a Chelsea season-ticket-holder despite growing up a United supporter, bought FC Lausanne-Sport of Switzerland in November 2017, and is clearly interested in dipping his toes in the football market, report the Mirror.

The Glazers purchased United for £790m in 2005 but have not always been popular with followers of the club, who recently started a new #GlazersOut movement on social media.

Supporters also wore green and gold scarves to games in the past, which represented the colours of Newton Heath, the club United formed from in 1902.

They are unhappy with the Glazers saddling the club with debt, and with recent poor performances on the pitch to add to the mounting financial issues, the owners are now more unpopular than ever.