British billionaire and the CEO of INEOS, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, recently acquired 25 percent of Manchester United for 1.2 billion pounds and the silver lining of the deal is it also gives Ratcliffe control of football operations of the Red Devils.
Man United’s fortunes have been going downhill ever since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club’s helm in 2013, which has failed to win the league title since and had performed poorly in Europe.
This season, United has been knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage, having finished last in its group. It currently stands eighth in the Premier League table and is on a four-game losing streak across all competitions.
TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE DEAL | INEOS’s Jim Ratcliffe agrees deal to buy 25 percent of Manchester United
Here’s what this deal means for Manchester United and what Ratcliffe and his team has to offer for the Red Devils.
Sports teams owned by Jim Ratcliffe
Ratcliffe is no stranger to the sporting world since he already owns four sports teams before Manchester United. In 2017, Ratcliffe’s company INEOS acquired FC Lausanne-Sport, a Swiss football club playing in the highest division of the country.
He also owns INEOS Britannia, a British sailing team competing in the America’s Cup led by CEO, skipper and sailing legend Sir Ben Ainslie.
Ratcliffe got the cycling team, ‘Team Sky’ and changed its name to Ineos Grenadiers in 2020. He signed stars like Richard Carapaz and Rohan Dennis and his investments yielded great results since his team won a Tour de France and two Giro d’Italia.
He is also the owner of a third of one of Formula One’s biggest franchises, Mercedes AMG.
Additionally, Ratcliffe owns French football club OGC Nice which he acquired in 2019 and has changed the fortunes of the underdog side ever since.
What has Ratcliffe done with OGC Nice?
As soon as Ratcliffe bought the Ligue 1 side, he claimed that Nice will challenge PSG for the title in five years and despite a rocky first few seasons, Nice is currently second in the league table, just five points behind PSG.
The Brit is a brave and impulsive man when it comes to sports and he showed that when he sacked Patrick Viera in order to acquire the services of Christophe Galtier, who had just won the title with Lille in 2019.
Terem Moffi celebrating with OGC Nice players | Photo Credit: AFP
Ratcliffe is also known to be very active in the transfer market which should be music to the fans of Man United since it hasn’t fared so well in it in recent times.
Since Ratcliffe joined Nice, the net transfer spend has almost doubled showing what a big spender he is in order to get what is best for the club. He bought in Kasper Dolberg who was in the form of his life during the Euros in 2020 and the young striker delivered, finishing as the leading scorer for his side.
With the signing of Jean-Clair Todibo, Kephrem Thuram, and Amine Gouiri, it is clear that his ideology in the market is heavily focused on bringing in young talent on board. Although the case might not be the same with Man United since the club already has some amazing young talent in its youth systems, fans could see some underrated finds across Europe in United’s wishlist in the coming transfer window.
Ratcliffe is someone who is not afraid to spend big to acquire what he wants; however, this has also turned out badly for him since he has overspent on certain players in the past. Nice bought Staley Nsoki for €12.50m and then sold him the next season for nearly half the price.
File Photo: Jim Ratcliffe outside Old Trafford | Photo Credit: REUTERS
Even in the case of Terem Moffi, it spent 30 million euros to get the young forward’s signature this season and although he has been good, the player could have come for a cheaper price tag.
Manchester United fans are happy that a local fan is about to hold the reins of the club but they would need to show patience in order to see results. Ratcliffe has made mistakes in his previous endeavours but has always learned from them and implemented positive solutions which can be seen now as OGC Nice and his Swiss club Lausanne-Sport have been faring well at the moment.
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