‘Beginning of our journey’: Crucial $2bn Man Utd takeover finally sealed

British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe said becoming a co-owner of Manchester United is a “great honour” and “responsibility” after his purchase of a minority stake was finalised on Tuesday.

The 71-year-old’s investment, which will give him control of football operations at the 20-time English champions, was approved by the Premier League and English Football Association last week.

It was announced on December 24 last year that Ratcliffe had agreed to buy a 25 per cent stake in United from unpopular owners the Glazer family in a deal worth around £1.02 billion ($1.97 billion AUD).

Following the completion of that deal, the founder of petrochemicals giant INEOS has invested a further $200 million USD to take his total stake to 27.7 per cent and will inject $100 million USD more by the end of this year to enable investment in infrastructure at Old Trafford and take his stake to 28.9 per cent.

“This marks the completion of the transaction, but just the beginning of our journey to take Manchester United back to the top of English, European and world football, with world-class facilities for our fans,” Ratcliffe said in a club statement.

“Work to achieve those objectives will accelerate from today.”

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United have not won the Premier League since former manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 and last won the Champions League in 2008 as their fortunes on the field have deteriorated during the Glazers’ reign.

The Americans have been deeply unpopular with supporters ever since a leveraged takeover of the club in 2005 saddled the club with hundreds of millions of dollars of debt.

Joel Glazer, United’s executive co-chairman, said: “I would like to welcome Sir Jim as co-owner and look forward to working