2023-12-24 16:21:41
“As a true Manchester United fan, I wish the club nothing but the best and a return to the top as quickly as possible. But change must start at the top. They have to start with the owners.” (c) David Beckham
The Manchester United acquisition saga is finally entering its final lap. Sheikh Jassim, unfortunately, dropped out of this race, leaving British businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe as the only candidate. Having less financial power than the sheikh, the Englishman made a clever maneuver, proposing a scheme with a phased acquisition of shares instead of a full buyout. Instead of the 5 billion euros that Jassim offered, Ratcliffe tactfully offered one and a half billion for 25% of the club’s shares, which means that the American family will still retain part of the club’s shares and the right to dividends. Although this year they did not receive them. Then, by 2026, Ratcliffe plans to buy out a controlling stake and become the full owner of the club.
But who is Sir Jim Ratcliffe? The Englishman was born in 1952 (that is, he is now 71 years old) in Greater Manchester. Coming from a working-class background (his father was a carpenter, his mother an accountant), Jim graduated from the University of Birmingham and then London Business School. Ratcliffe built his career in the chemical industry, and in 1998 he founded his own industrial company, INEOS, where he still works.
The businessman, who actively supported Brexit, immediately after receiving a knighthood from the Queen in 2018, changed his country of residence from rainy England to sunny Monaco. In addition to a milder climate, the principality offered the newly minted Sir Jim a more favorable tax system without income tax and capital gains tax. Interestingly, while living in London, Ratcliffe was a season ticket holder for Chelsea games. And he even tried to buy the London club in 2022 for 4.25 million pounds, but the offer was rejected.
I lived in London for many years and went to Chelsea games. It was difficult to travel to Manchester United matches, so I had to divide my loyalties between the clubs. I have a house in the Chelsea area and have been a season ticket holder for many years” SIR JIM RATCLIFFE
It is important to note that this is not the first purchase of a football club by a British tycoon. Previously, Ratcliffe and his company INEOS took over the Swiss football club Lausanne and the French Nice. If everything was not smooth with Lausanne (now the club has just returned to the major league), then the results of the club from the Cote d’Azur were much better.
This season, the Eaglets are trying to force PSG to fight for first place. One of the Red Devils’ summer transfer targets, Jean-Clair Todibo, plays in defence. The conclusion is that Ratcliffe taking control of the club could make it easier to land a talented defender. However, discussions periodically arise among Premier League clubs about restrictions on transfers between clubs owned by the same owner. So perhaps you should hurry up with transfers from France. Moreover, this season Nice concedes the fewest goals in Ligue 1, so there will be a serious demand for defensive players.
Kasper Schmeichel
INEOS were successful not only in business, but in every sports project in which they invested. Jim is a big Manchester United fan and I think it’s very important for United fans that someone comes to the club who will care deeply about it… From my experience at Nice I can say that Jim is a person who is always there to come to the games. He has extensive knowledge not only about football, but also about how to achieve results
A characteristic feature of INEOS management is the rather thorough formation of the administrative sector in its clubs. Thus, Richard Arnold has already lost his chair, and John Murtaugh is appointed next to exit. Ratcliffe’s old connections in the person of Jean-Claude Blanc, who was a director at PSG and Juventus, and now holds a position at INEOS, will come in very handy here. Perhaps for the first time in a long time, the club will have a person from football, and not from the banking sector, in an administrative position.
Due to the fact that Ratcliffe will only own a minority stake, he plans to organize a triumvirate to manage Manchester United. According to The Financial Times, this triangle will include Ratcliffe himself, Joel Glaser and Sir Dave Brailsford, who previously oversaw all INEOS sports projects, including the cycling team, and now plans to leave and take a position in the club’s football structure. The names of Paul Mitchell and Dougie Freedman have also been floated in the press as potential candidates for the role of sporting director, whom the club has been unable to appoint for 10 years. This approach is reminiscent of the situation at Newcastle, where Dan Ashworth is completely focused on the project, and as sporting director is one of the culprits of the Magpies’ success along with Howe.
What is Ratcliffe promising now? To begin with, the businessman promised to invest £245 million in the club’s outdated structure from his personal funds. This means the club will be patching up the holes at aging Old Trafford rather than building a new arena, which might have been possible with Sheikh Jassim’s funds. The Briton is also considering increasing the capacity of the “Theater of Dreams” to 90 thousand people and finally fixing the leaking roof. According to some reports, the bulk of the money will go towards upgrading Carrington and perhaps even a new hot tub and pool.
At first glance, Ratcliffe’s approach looks quite balanced and logical, since it is partly sports (which was not the case before), partly business (after all, the club is becoming part of the INEOS empire). The Englishman begins the transformation with the leadership, because as a fan he himself saw that in recent years, one and a half billion spent on transfers and coaching leapfrog brought nothing to the club. This means that the matter is in something else, in the method of management and people occupying places that are far from their proper place.
Compared to Sheikh Jassim, who was ready to solve all problems by plugging holes with bags of money, Ratcliffe’s resources are more limited, so he will have to show more ingenuity and patience. However, we should not forget that the Englishman is already 71 years old, and the final acquisition of the club is planned only for 2026, when he will already be 74. However, it is impossible to predict what INEOS will do with its assets in the event of the death of its founder. Perhaps they will sell to Sheikh Jassim.
Harry Neville
I don’t think United should be handed over to yet another investment firm trying to get their money back. It worries me a little when private investors come into football and try to get their money and investments back… In this case, United will be in a different situation than Manchester City or Newcastle with their investors, existing without debt, without obligations dividend payments. Manchester United must become a debt-free club with an owner willing to invest
The Sheikh Jassim option probably seemed more advantageous to many, but the prospect of saying goodbye to the Glazer family is the least of the evils, so in any case, this is a step in the right direction. One thing is certain, the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and a radical change in leadership is the beginning of the very “open heart operation” that Ralf Rangnick called for to save Manchester United.
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