Tag Archives: Sir Jim Ratcliffe

“I’m not sure he exists!”: Man United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe blasts former rival

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Sir Jim Ratcliffe has questioned whether Sheikh Jassim is just a mirage. Britain’s richest man beat the Qatari to purchase a 25% stake in Manchester United for £1.3billion.

Ratcliffe went toe-to-toe with Middle Eastern royalty after the Glazers announced they were finally ready to give up control of United. Ratcliffe claims he was always the preferred candidate and rubbed salt in the Qatari’s wounds.

“Still nobody’s ever seen him, actually. The Glazers never met him. I’m not sure he exists!” Ratcliffe said.

“I don’t know (if he was the only bidder). They were obviously there and there was a whole host of people on the team and in the squad. I didn’t ever meet them. But it was it was a very odd affair.”

There were many moments along the 12-month process where Ratcliffe thought he had secured a deal. But he regularly hit road bumps until the formal announcement on Wednesday.

He added: “The transaction was quite challenging. We met all sorts of obstacles on the way. It was obviously a rocky road for quite an extended period of time.

“The Glazers really, from the beginning, preferred ourselves to the Qatari option.

“They sort of stuck with us through the whole process. That rocky road for a year, has sort of forged a relationship between ourselves and the other shareholders.

“We’ve all got to know each other. You get to know people better in adversity than when the whole thing is going swimmingly.”

Man United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe “disagrees” with Erik ten Hag over move for Chelsea summer target

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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is reportedly very keen on landing an elite striker in the summer and is eyeing up Brentford’s Ivan Toney to fit that bill.

The Red Devils brought in Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta at the beginning of the season but are already considering adding further firepower to Ten Hag’s arsenal.

The Daily Star claim that Ten Hag is personally keeping tabs on Toney ahead of a potential summer move. The England striker has made his intentions clear that he wants to depart Brentford at the end of the season, with a year then left on his contract even Bees boss Thomas Frank admitted that it would be unlikely that he stays.

Several top Premier League clubs hold an interest in Toney, with United set to compete with the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham as they hope to prise him out of London. But Brentford’s £100million valuation may prove to be a stumbling block for Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

The INEOS chief and United minority owner is aware that significant funds will have to be spent on recruitment in order to return the club to its former glory.

However, he believes that the 27-year-old is being overvalued and would consider a deal closer to £70m. The Brit is also keen to avoid a bidding war for Toney’s services.

Toney’s lack of experience playing in Europe is a factor in Ratcliffe being disinterested at £100m, while being aware that if the striker completes a four or five-year contract at Old Trafford he would have little re-sale value into his thirties.

Britain’s richest man blasts Manchester United amid reports of potential takeover

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Sir Jim Ratcliffe has dismissed reports over a potential takeover at Manchester United, criticizing the way the Old Trafford club is being managed.

There have been suggestions in England that the 67-yeaar-old wants to buy one of the top Premier League clubs especially Chelsea and Manchester United.

But Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has reportedly shot down speculation that he wanted to sell his club.

Sir Ratcliffe, who grew up supporting the Red Devils, has, however, bought Ligue 1 side Nice.

Reacting to the idea of buying Manchester United, Britain’s richest man, who is worth a whopping £20billion, told The Times: “They are in quite a big pickle as a business.

“They haven’t got the manager selection right, haven’t bought well. 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 won’t look elsewhere until we have had a good run here (at Nice). We need to find out how to be successful before you ever want to write a big cheque. It’s quite difficult,” he said.

“We have a different approach here [at Nice] to be moderately intelligent about it. Try to do it more grass roots, trying to locate young talent.

“Some clubs seem to have an ability to do that, Southampton, Lille. [Manchester] United have done it really poorly. They have lost the plot there somehow.”

Photo Credit: premierleague.com