Sir Jim Ratcliffe interested in buying Manchester United stake with a view to ‘long-term ownership’

Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to buy a stake in Manchester United with a long-term view to taking over the club.

Fan anger at the ownership of the Glazer family, who have been in full charge at Old Trafford since 2005, has only increased following a dismal start to the new Premier League season and confused transfer approach, with further protests and calls for a sale.

Reports from Bloomberg on Wednesday claimed that the Glazers would consider selling a minority stake in one of the world’s biggest sporting institutions and have even held preliminary talks about the possibility of bringing in a new investor, though are not ready to give up control.

Meanwhile, The Independent reported that three consortiums were weighing up potential bids for United amid growing belief that the Glazers could sell the club for a mammoth $6billion, while Tesla billionaire Elon Musk also made a joke on social media about purchasing the Red Devils.

United fan Ratcliffe, billionaire owner of petrochemical giant INEOS and one of Britain’s richest men, has indicated a desire to buy his boyhood club in the past and even launched a last-minute move worth £4.25bn to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich in May, but ultimately lost out to the Boehly-Clearlake group.

Through Ineos, Ratcliffe already owns French club Nice and Swiss outfit FC Lausanne-Sport and it has now been confirmed that he remains keen to buy Manchester United if the opportunity arises.

“If the club is for sale, Jim is definitely a potential buyer,” a spokesperson for Ratcliffe told The Times on Wednesday evening.

“If something like this was possible, we would be interested in talking with a view to long-term ownership.”