Man United copy Todd Boehly takeover plan as Sir Jim Ratcliffe holds talks with ex-Chelsea boss
Manchester United could take a leaf out of Chelsea's book if Sir Jim Ratcliffe can get his feet under the table at Old Trafford. The British billionaire tried to buy the west London outfit from Roman Abramovich last year, but it was Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali who secured the keys to Stamford Bridge.
Ratcliffe tabled a £4.25 billion offer, however his proposal was ruled out by Raine Group, who were handling the club's sale, with the American consortium already named as the preferred bidder. In an interview with The Times shortly after the Ineos owner failed to acquire Chelsea, a spokesman for Ratcliffe confirmed that he would be open to buying the Red Devils.
In August 2022, the 71-year-old's spokesman said: «If the club is for sale, Jim is definitely a potential buyer. If something like this was possible, we would be interested in talking with a view to long-term ownership.
»This is not about the money that has been spent or not spent. Jim is looking at what can be done now and, knowing how important the club is to the city, it feels like the time is right for a reset."
Fast forward 18-months or so and Ratcliffe is finally set to buy 25 per cent of the 20-time Premier League champions, according to The Sun. The report states that the billionaire could acquire his stake as early as next week and immediately take over football operations.
If the deal goes through, The Sun add that Ratcliffe wants to replace Erik ten Hag in a bid to transform United's fortunes on the pitch. The Red Devils have won just one of their last five games across all competitions and, ironically enough, it came against Chelsea at Old Trafford earlier this month.
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