Sir Jim Ratcliffe, INEOS enter race for Manchester United

Manchester United are up for sale by the much hated Glazer ownership, and interested parties are beginning to take their intentions public. One such group is led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, CEO of INEOS, who made his interest in acquiring Manchester United well known over the summer. Now with a sale much more realistic, a spokesperson for INEOS once again made it known with a simple phrase that they will be involved in the bidding process.

“We have formally put ourselves in the process,” the spokesman confirmed to The Times on Tuesday. Ratcliffe’s group was involved in bids for Chelsea early in 2022, losing out to Todd Boehly, but the self-proclaimed United fan has a personal as well as financial interest in seeing out this takeover bid.

“I’m a lifelong Manchester United fan,” Ratcliffe said in an interview with the Financial Times back in October. “I was there in that most remarkable match in 1999 in Barcelona. That is deeply etched in my mind.”

Ratcliffe may need a bit more support in the form of a consortium to match the kind of wealth from likely bidders from the Middle East, Asia, and the United States, but he’s already developed a positive relationship with the Glazers, and many fans were welcoming his interest in 2022. His initial approach to the Glazers was centered around a takeover proposal, but at the time the owners were only looking for additional investment. Now with the intention to sell much clearer, Ratcliffe is once again on the move.