Sheikh Jassim has officially backed away from the race to buy Manchester United. In the process, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has emerged in the lead to buy his way into the club. When and if he acquires his share of the club, the British businessman will take control of the football operations of Man United. Even though he will have the say in what happens with the players, coaches, and other football-related operations at the club, he will not be removing coach Erik Ten Hag from his post.
One of Manchester United’s leading bidders, Sheikh Jassim backed off from the race to buy the club. That saw Sir Jim Ratcliffe take the pole position to buy his share in the club. Yes, he will be acquiring a 25% share of Man United. Even though Sheikh Jassim’s bid was worth over £4.9 billion, the current club owners, the Glazers rejected it. However, they could now go on to accept a £1.4 billion deal from the British businessman for the 25% acquisition of the club.
Reportedly, even though Sir Ratcliffe is bidding for a quarter of the club, he will still try to take over the entirety of the club later on. Apparently, his valuation of the club is more than Sheikh Jassim’s bid for Man United. The fans are unhappy with the Glazers still retaining the majority ownership of the company. However, they can rest a bit easier knowing that Ratcliffe will take control of the football operations at the club when and if he comes aboard.
The Glazers have not been able to hold up their end of the bargain when it came to Man United’s sporting side. Fans have been shouting for their heads for years. They want the Glazers to be completely gone from their club. That’s why the situation might not be favourable for the fans. However, Ratcliffe has plans to take control of the entire club in the near future. It’s not confirmed, but his contract with the Glazers could include a ‘put-and-call’ clause that could help him later on.
The INEOS founder and CEO will be in charge of the sporting matters of the club. This will include supervising player transfers, incomings, departures, and coaching and football staff management. Even though Man United’s start to the season has been their worst in 34 years, there are a number of reasons behind it. Hence, reportedly, Ratcliffe will not remove coach Erik Ten Hag from his position. The two met in March when Ratcliffe visited the Red Devils’ training ground, Carrington.
Since his arrival, Ten Hag has been able to turn Man United’s situation for the good. He helped them end their 6-year long trophy drought. He led the team to win the Carabao Cup last year. However, the team has been plagued with injuries since the end of last season. They still haven’t been able to recover. Ten Hag hasn’t been able to field his strongest XI in a single match even now. Ratcliffe will hopefully help make the squad stronger with the help of Ten Hag.
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