Manchester United look set to enter a new era in the club’s history, with the Glazer family set to sell their majority stake in the football club.
It has been nothing but endless torment for United fans since 2005 who have had to watch the family run the club into no man’s land, while absorbing as much profit as they can possibly muster up after they completed a leveraged buyout of the Red Devils.
But with fan protests finally forcing their hand after nearly 20 years and the Glazers feeling as though they can maximise profits by selling up, a new owner appears imminent. Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim has gone head-to-head with British businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe in a bid to buy the club, but with the Lancashire-born billionaire seemingly in pole position after the final round of bidding, now is as good a time as ever to do some recon on the potential new United owner.
Ratcliffe is no alien to the football world, already owning Ligue 1 side OGC Nice and Swiss side FC Lausanne-Sport, but what do people around the billionaire make of him and his interests?
Kasper Schmeichel
The Danish stopper – and son of United legend Peter Schmeichel – now plays for a club owned by Ratcliffe after moving to Nice last summer.
Appearing on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football ahead of Leicester vs Everton, he said: “One of the biggest reasons that I joined Nice was because of INEOS and because of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford, their vision and how they want to evolve their sports.
“Because they’ve been successful, not just in business, but in every other sporting venture they’ve thrown their investment at. I think with Manchester United particularly, Jim [Ratcliffe] is a big fan of the club and that speaks a lot to fans.
“He’s someone coming in who cares deeply about the club. From my own experience at Nice, he’s a man who is present, he comes to games, a guy that’s knowledgeable about football and who has a vast knowledge about performance in general.
“He has people like Dave Brailsford working for him, who again, are present and I think that’s the main thing with any club I’ve played at, look at Leicester, for example, the owners are present and there is not a divide.
“So I think – and I’m biased hoping INEOS are the preferred bidders – let’s wait and see.”
🗣️ “One of the biggest reasons that I joined Nice was because of INEOS.”
Kasper Schmeichel gives his insight on Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS ownership at…
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