Sir Jim Ratcliffe is expected to purchase 25 per cent of Man Utd for £1.3bn; the deal would give the INEOS owner control of football operations, plus a say in the commercial side controlled by the Glazer family; Man Utd are not expected to be busy in the January window
Friday 20 October 2023 10:40, UK
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is proposing a new Manchester United football committee of himself, Joel Glazer and Sir Dave Brailsford if his deal to acquire 25 per cent of the club is agreed.
As part of the £1.3bn deal for a quarter of the Premier League club, Ratcliffe's deal for a minority stake would give him control of football operations at Old Trafford.
The Glazer family would retain control of the commercial side of the business but Ratcliffe would also have a say on those matters due to his stake in the club.
Ratcliffe's deal is still being finalised, but whatever happens, United are unlikely to be big spenders in the January transfer window.
As revealed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in an interview with The Athletic last month, the Glazers usually allow their managers three big signings a year and United generally prefer to do the bulk of their business in the summer.
Manager Erik ten Hag has stressed he is focused on his team and this weekend's trip to Sheffield United amid talk of Ratcliffe potentially investing in the club.
During the international break, Sheikh Jassim was understood to have ended his attempt to buy United, while INEOS founder Ratcliffe is reportedly looking to purchase a 25 per cent stake in the club.
Asked about the situation on Friday, Ten Hag told a press conference: "I'm not involved in this. Others in the club are dealing with this.
"I am focusing on my team, I'm focusing on the coming block (of games), and I am focusing on the most important priority, the next game - it's all about that."
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is close to acquiring 25 per cent of Manchester United for £1.3bn. He owns cycling team INEOS Grenadiers, Ligue 1 side Nice, who he took over in 2019, and FC Lausanne-Sport, a Swiss Super League club.
The Greater Manchester-born billionaire also owns a third of the Mercedes Formula 1 team. Mercedes driver Sir Lewis Hamilton describes Ratcliffe as a "part-boss and part-partner".
Joel Glazer is the current Manchester United executive co-chairman.
Sir Dave Brailsford is INEOS director of sport and is also team principal of cycling team INEOS Grenadiers. They have not won the Tour de France since 2019 and do not have a rider in the top 10 of UCI rankings, however Brailsford previously oversaw seven Tour de France wins in charge of Team Sky and then the rebranded INEOS Grenadiers. He also revolutionised British Cycling, with riders claiming 18 Olympic gold medals under his leadership and is famous for his 'marginal gains' philosophy.
As INEOS director of sport he has most recently been focusing on the company's football investment in Ligue 1 side Nice, where the group have achieved limited success.
An indication that Ratcliffe's deal for United is getting closer is a report from Bloomberg which claims INEOS will hold a credit update call on Monday at 3pm to update shareholders. The petrochemicals company is not commenting.
Thursday's Manchester United board meeting was standard practice and has not been called to specifically discuss this deal. They are usually partly virtual because the Glazer family are based in the United States.
It is also unlikely there will be a resolution to the strategic review which sparked the long-winded takeover race involving Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim after it was announced last November.
The Qatari bid led by Sheikh Jassim withdrew from the process last weekend eight months after initially declaring its plans for buying Man Utd. This, it is thought, was the only offer for 100 per cent of the club.
Ratcliffe initially wanted to buy the Glazers' 69 per cent shareholding, but has agreed to leave the American family with their majority stake ahead of a potential full takeover.
French football expert Jonathan Johnson:
"It's been a bit of a mixed bag with INEOS and Ratcliffe at Nice so far. They have had their moments - they got to a French cup final a couple of years ago - but there's no tangible success for the operation at the moment.
"They have undergone a number of changes, notably with the addition of Jean-Claude Blanc, formerly of PSG and Juventus on the INEOS sporting set-up. But, generally speaking, on the football front, the project hasn't quite lived up to its initial expectations.
"They've had to walk back the initial plan of challenging for the Ligue 1 title to just hoping to qualify consistently for Europe. You could make an argument they haven't progressed as much as they should have done.
"One thing they have done very well is they've accrued a lot of talented young French players - Jean-Clair Todibo and Khephren Thuram are knocking on the door of the France national team.
"But there's a feeling Nice should have kicked on more than they have done since Ratcliffe's arrival.
"Sir Dave Brailsford has become more and more involved over the last couple of years and you assume he'll play a significant role for INEOS should they become majority owners of Man Utd one day, which you imagine has to be part of the new deal being done.
"Ratcliffe has been more involved of late. There has been a sense the Nice fans have grown tired of Ratcliffe's flirtations with some of the Premier League clubs that have been on the market in recent years. It started with Chelsea, there were tentative links with Liverpool...
"If it had been Man Utd first up, with that childhood/fan connection the Nice fans might have been a little bit more understanding. But now I think they've grown tired of these notions of acquiring what is considered a bigger club than Nice."
