British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has agreed to buy 25% of Manchester United, worth around 1.25 billion pounds, or around 1.437 billion euros. As part of the deal, Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group will take control of the club’s footballing operations and this particularly angers Red Devils legend Gary Neville.
Ratcliffe (71 years old) is Manchester United’s new strongman. This businessman who has just bought 25% of the Mancunian club will also provide 300 million dollars, or 344 million euros, for future investments at Old Trafford. This announcement comes 13 months after the club was put up for sale by the Glazer family , the owners of Manchester United.
Indeed, the American family bought the club for £790 million in 2005. Manchester United then struggled on the pitch since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson and have not won the Premier League since 2013. And for fans, the Glazer family is largely responsible for Manchester United’s monumental collapse.
Born in Manchester, Ratcliffe is chairman of petrochemical company Ineos and says he is a “lifelong supporter of the club”. In a statement he said: “While the club’s commercial success has always provided the funds needed to win trophies at the highest level, this potential has not been fully realized in recent times. We will leverage the knowledge, expertise and talent of the entire Ineos Sport Group to help improve the club, whilst providing funds to enable future investment at Old Trafford,” it reads.
Gary Neville’s black anger after the sale of Manchester United
Manchester United legend Gary Neville was not indifferent to the big Christmas Eve news for Red Devils fans. 25% of the club’s shares were bought by English billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and football management is no longer in the hands of the Glazers brothers .
The former right-back criticized the timing of the sale through a viral post on social network X. “Manchester United in 2023 was a shame across the board. The timing of this sale is truly terrible and no functional organization would think of it. Regardless, I wish Jim Radcliffe good luck and hope he finds a way to get the club back on its feet and make it something respectable on and off the field,” he said. -he writes.
Gary Neville’s concerns are also shared by the club’s largest supporters’ association, the Manchester United Supporters Trust. Faced with this scenario, supporters today have very mixed feelings.
“We welcome the investment from one of our childhood friends, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and his company INEOS, but many would have liked his stake to be higher than the 25% initially announced. We note the statements that he and his team will control sporting activities, but we do not know how an organization can put its core business in the hands of a minority shareholder and how this works in practice,” they said. ‘first let go.
“It is now up to the club’s owners and management to properly explain how this new structure will work, where the new investments will be directed and how they will benefit the team on the pitch,” they added in a statement.
Glazer family comments on partial sale of Manchester United
After much protest, American brothers Avram and Joel Glazer accepted Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s proposal to buy 25% of Manchester United’s shares, worth around 1.25 billion pounds, or around 1.437 million. ‘euros. After making the partial sale of the club official, the Glazer family spoke out via a press release made public.
“We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS. As part of the strategic review we announced in November 2022, we committed to analyzing a variety of alternatives to help improve Manchester United, with a focus on the success of our men’s, women’s and football teams. Academy,” the Glazer brothers said in a statement.
“Sir Jim and INEOS bring great commercial experience as well as significant financial commitment to the club. Through INEOS Sport, Manchester United will have access to experienced, high-performance individuals who know how to create and lead elite teams, both on and off the pitch. Manchester United have talented people across the club and our wish is to always improve at all levels to help bring more success to our great fans in the future,” it read.
