The richest man in Britain has confirmed his bid to take over Manchester United as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his company INEOS are one of the groups aiming to buy the club from the Glazer family.
INEOS today (18 February) released a statement confirming the bid for 'majority ownership' of the football club and outlining their vision for United if they were successful in taking charge.
They said: "Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS have submitted a bid for majority ownership of Manchester United Football Club.
"We would see our role as the long-term custodians of Manchester United on behalf of the fans and the wider community. We are ambitious and highly competitive and would want to invest in Manchester United to make them the number one club in the world once again."
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"We also recognise that football governance in this country is at a crossroads. We would want to help lead this next chapter, deepening the culture of English football by making the club a beacon for a modern, progressive, fan-centred approach to ownership."
"We want a Manchester United anchored in its proud history and roots in the North-West of England, putting the Manchester back into Manchester United and clearly focusing on winning the Champions League."
Sky News had last night reported that Sir Jim had made a bid to buy United, with the 70-year-old billionaire being a boyhood fan of the club.
He is not the only bidder for Manchester United, as a group of investors from Qatar have also lodged their own bid for 'full ownership' and believe they will be successful in buying the club.
The Glazer family had set last night (17 February) as a 'soft deadline' for bids to be made for United, with the football club expected to become the most expensive sports team ever.
United fans will be happy to see the back of the Glazer family, who bought the club in 2005 and saddled it with hundreds of millions of pounds in debt in the process, but what comes next is unknown.
The Qatari investors believe they have the financial firepower to outbid anyone else and take full control of United, but there are serious concerns over the nation's human rights record and the bidders connections to the owners of PSG.
United's LGBTQ+ fan group have said they have 'deep concerns' over some of the bidders and insisted the new owners 'must commit to making football a sport for everyone, including LGBTQ+ supporters, players and staff'.
Qatar discriminates against the LGBTQ+ community, with homosexuality illegal in the nation and punishable by several years in prison.
Topics: Manchester United, Sport, Football, UK News
Joe Harker