attitIneos Chairman Jim Ratcliffe reacts during a media event to reveal the new livery for Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team’s race car the for the upcoming 2020 season, at the Royal Automobile Club in London on February 10, 2020. Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff said on Monday that his team’s tie-up with Lewis Hamilton is the “obvious pairing”, with the future of the six-time world champion still unclear on the eve of the new season. “It is the obvious pairing going forward,” said Wolff as Mercedes unveiled a five-year partnership with Jim Ratcliffe’s chemicals company Ineos in London. (Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP) (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Manchester United remain in the midst of a possible takeover, or at least a partial one. It has been almost a year since the Glazers announced they were considering fesh investment into the club, sparking excitement of a potential takeover.
Since then, plenty has happened, albeit rather slowly. Bidders have come and gone, and it seems only one remains, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe the leading bidder following Sheikh Jassim’s decision to walk away from the process. Still, nothing seems to be moving quickly, and here we have rounded up all the latest surrounding the situation.
Ratcliffe bid on knife-edge
Ratcliffe could yet walk away from a takeover, according to reports. It’s claimed his £1.4billion offer for 25% of the club is an offer the Glazers like, but there is a sticking point. According to the Independent, the United board haven’t met to discuss the offer yet because of one reason.
That’s because Ratcliffe wants a guaranteed path to a full takeover, something the current board members are reluctant to offer. Though, if he is going to settle for 25%, it seems Ratcliffe may walk away if he can’t get some of those guarantees.
Romano confident
On the other hand, Fabrizio Romano believes a takeover should go smoothly within the next few weeks. He told CaughtOffside: “The only person to decide the sporting future of Manchester United is going to be Sir Jim Ratcliffe, as we know very well guys. In the next weeks everything will be completed, that is the expectation, so that Sir Jim can buy into Manchester United with a 25% minority stake – but with sporting control.
“That means he can decide on the manager, the board, the directors and all of the sporting activities. This is really important. The feeling at United is that there could be a big change in terms of the board and in terms of the operations at Manchester United. It means a new sporting director, so the whole transfer process could change at the club with people coming from Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS Group.
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“There are many candidates for different positions, including the director of football, and although we heard Paul Mitchell’s name mentioned, there are also others to consider. Manchester United will look at multiple options and a decision on any changes will be made internally once Sir Jim is at the club.”
Ten Hag’s stance
Erik ten Hag has maintained that he has nothing to do with the United sale process, saying: “I’m not involved in this. Others in the club are dealing with this. “I am focusing on my team, I’m focusing on the coming block (of games), and I am focusing on the most important priority, the next game – it’s all about that.”
A takeover could impact Ten Hag, especially given a new owner may have a different view on his position amid disappointing results this season, but the takeover is above his pay grade.
