Sir Jim Ratcliffe is finally confirmed as the new investor at Manchester United, with Ineos’ stake approved.
And it was quite a wait. Would-be bidders were invited to make offers for Manchester United way back in November 2022.
And here we are in February 2024, finally seeing the brand new era for Manchester United come to life.
Nothing is guaranteed. Manchester United fans know this. But we do have hope, a belief we never had in the Glazer ownership.
It wasa year of chaos, which only began to reach an endgame when on December 24th, a statement was made by the club, confirming Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos would be purchasing a stake in the club.
This was not the full takeover fans wanted, but enough has transpired since to provide belief that Ineos will have real and meaningful power atOld Trafford.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe celebrated too early
Manchester United fans who followed the updates of the takeover saga as intently as a transfer saga are very familiar with the frustrating twists and turns which saw Ineos finally come out on top.
So imagine how difficult this was for Ratcliffe and his team to experience first hand.
He explains, via The Athletic, that Ineos actually celebrated winning the battle for Manchester United seven months too early, and wasted a ‘very expensive’ bottle of champagne.
Ratcliffe said: “Time and time again. I remember at the Monaco Grand Prix, which was in May, we opened a bottle of very expensive champagne and all celebrated. That was in May — but that was a false dawn and we went through several more false dawns after that.
“We had a few surprises on the way. Not at the Glazers’ making. We just kept bumping into problems, particularly with the non-executives on the board.”
Ratcliffe and Ineos got there in the end, and are now busy plotting to lead Manchester United back to the top of English football.
Their resilience and savviness to come out on top of this bidding process speaks volumes, hopefully, for how determined they will be to succeed in ensuring Manchester United are the best on the pitch too.
What Ratcliffe said about Sheikh Jassim
Despite an expectation of a free-for-all, there were only two serious bidders for Manchester United, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and a Qatari led consortium.
The Qatar bid was led by Sheikh Jassim, and their approach won over a lot of supporters, because it appeared to represent the best chance of a total buyout.
However, the Glazers were not convinced that what was on offer was actually the best deal, and Ratcliffe’s personal touch won out.
Ratcliffe cast doubt on how serious they were, commenting on Sheikh Jassim: “Still nobody’s ever seen him, actually. The Glazers never met him… he never… I’m not sure he exists!
“They were they were obviously there and there was a whole host of people on the team in their squad… I didn’t ever meet them. But it was it was a very odd affair.”