Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been speaking on the record for the first time about his 25 per cent takeover of Manchester United.
The deal for the 71-year-old billionaire to acquire a stake in Manchester United was confirmed on Christmas Eve and the Englishman was present at Old Trafford for the Red Devils’ game against Tottenham Hotspur.
It was a 2-2 draw for United at Old Trafford as goals from Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford were not enough to record a victory.
Midway through the first half, Ratcliffe was spotted sitting alongside Sir Alex Ferguson in the stands at Old Trafford and the current owner of OGC Nice explained when his takeover could be completed.
Ratcliffe on takeover timeline
As quoted by The Athletic, Ratcliffe has revealed when the takeover will be completed with the Premier League’s Owners & Directors test set to take around six weeks.
“Early to mid-Feb, we hope,” Ratcliffe said, before joking: “We hope they don’t find anything dodgy in our CV.”
Ratcliffe’s minority stake will give the billionaire sporting control of the club, but he was unable to comment on whether he would have any influence on United’s January transfer window activity.
The United fans have been used to the Glazer family either being totally absent from United games or failing to speak on the record about the club for years now.
When asked whether this visit to Old Trafford could be a regular thing in the future, he said: “I can’t come all the time because I have a few other things to manage, but I’ll come quite a lot.”
Exciting times for United fans
It has been a rather tough season for the fans as they have had to endure inconsistent performances and results on the pitch but getting the American family to cede control of the sporting side had to be the main aim.
Having an owner who will be involved in the running of the sporting side, as well as appointing the right people in the right roles has to be the priority.
Over the last few weeks, there has been talk that Dan Ashworth and Paul Mitchell were being targeted by the Ineos regime and if the club did pull it off, it would be some coup indeed.
This should be an exciting time for the club’s future if they follow through with these plans.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/5benszu