Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s takeover of Man Utd is reportedly ‘close’ to being completed as talks with the Glazer family are now at an ‘advanced stage’.
The Glazer family invested around £800m to become the owners of Man Utd in 2005.
The club’s owners have come under fire over the past few years with supporters arguing that more money should have been invested into modernizing Old Trafford and United’s training ground.
They were also slatted over their involvement in the proposed breakaway European Super League. Had plans for this competition gone ahead, Man Utd and the rest of the English Big Six would have left the Premier League.
Amid growing pressure, the Glazer family put out a statement in November 2022 to confirm that they were open to new investment.
“We will evaluate all options to ensure that we best serve our fans and that Man Utd maximizes the significant growth opportunities available to the Club today and in the future,” a statement read.
“Throughout this process, we will remain fully focused on serving the best interests of our fans, shareholders, and various stakeholders.”
It was instantly assumed that this would result in a full sale, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe mentioned as a potential buyer.
The British billionaire was interested in buying Chelsea last year but he is a lifelong United fan so he would instantly be more popular than the Glazer family.
A spokesperson for Ratcliffe confirmed earlier this month that he is interested in becoming the new majority shareholder of Man Utd.
The Glazer family are said to be keen for there to be a quick resolution with a full sale targeted during the first quarter of 2023.
Now Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb are reporting that Ratcliffe is ‘close to signing Man Utd from the Glazers’.
The Ineos supremo is ‘close to acquiring’ United with talks over a ‘£4bn deal’ now at an ‘advanced stage’.
It is difficult to believe that Tuttomercatoweb of all outlets managed to get this exclusive information, so perhaps take this with a pinch of salt for now.
Separate reports have suggested that the Glazer family would want more than £4bn, but ex-Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan “would be gobsmacked” if they got £6-7bn.
“If you’re going to spend £5billion on a football club, you are going to want some return on it,” Jordan told talkSPORT.
“We can’t all expect everyone to be a fairy godmother trying to influence people’s thinking by being a nation state buying a football club for very different reasons than somebody that’s a commercial man that’s indexed to it for other reasons.
“So there has to be some form of commercial thinking behind it so with that in mind, do Man Utd get sold at £6/7billion? I’d be gobsmacked if they did.
“If it gets into the territory of between £4-6billion, by that I mean probably £5billion, then the conversation happens.”
He added: “Jim Ratcliffe is a very astute businessman, a very successful businessman.
“This is nobody’s fool, and obviously part and parcel of his motivation is to own arguably the biggest football club. Man United winning the Premier League, Man United being back amongst the elite will eclipse everybody economically.”
source: https://www.football365.com/