The richest man in England comes to Man Utd
At Old Trafford, Ratcliffe spoke with CEO Richard Arnold and other leaders of Man Utd. Britain's richest man hopes his vision will be a plus in the bidding process to buy the club. After the meeting at the stadium, Ratcliffe went to Carrington training ground to meet coach Erik Ten Hag.
"I just met them," confirmed coach Ten Hag. "Man Utd will play a big game on Sunday. All our focus is on that, while the others are working with potential investors."
Ratcliffe is one of two investors who want to buy Man Utd, alongside Qatari businessman Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani. On March 16, Al Thani's delegation also visited Man Utd. This 10-hour meeting was rated as positive. Al Thani's delegation did not have the opportunity to meet Ten Hag, because Man Utd had to be a guest on Sociedad's field in the second leg of the 1/8 round of the Europa League.
Ratcliffe is looking to buy a majority stake in Man Utd from the current owner, the Glazer family. Ratcliffe's advantage is his British citizenship and sports management experience. His INEOS group owns the French club, Nice. For the last seven seasons, Nice has always been in the Top 10 in Ligue 1.
"We will consider our role as the long-term guardian of Man Utd, on behalf of the fans and the community," a representative of the INEOS group said. "We are ambitious and highly competitive. We want to invest to make Man Utd the number one club in the world again. We want to make the club a beacon in the current approach to ownership. modern, progressive, and fan-centric".
Ratcliffe is currently worth $22.8 billion. The 70-year-old businessman is the richest person in the UK and is ranked 65th on the list of the richest people in the world.
Compared to Ratcliffe, Al Thani's biggest difference is that he wants to buy 100% of the shares from the Glazer family. The Qatari investor also promised to write off the debt from the current owner's acquisition of the club 18 years ago.
According to the Sun, Al Thani bid $5.4 billion in the first bid. This investor is willing to increase the price in the second auction, in order to approach the price of 7.2 billion that the Glazer family wants. Ratcliffe also failed to meet the Glazers' bid in the first bid.
Al Thani, 41, is currently the President of the Islamic Bank of Qatar. He is also the son of Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar. According to the Sun, Al Thani buying Man Utd will not conflict with Qatar Sports Investments owning PSG, due to the money coming from two different funds.
The Glazers bought Man Utd for $1.5 billion in 2005. One billion of this is bank debt. The Glazers then transferred the debt to the club itself, causing conflicts with fans for decades.
