Sir Jim Ratcliffe's 10-word response on buying Arsenal as Manchester United 'upgrade'

New Manchester owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been cheekily asked if he is building up to buy Arsenal following his takeover at Old Trafford.

The billionaire has completed a purchase of a 25 percent stake in the club from the Glazer family. He has already moved to make changes at the club with plans over a redevelopment at Old Trafford and a move to appoint Newcastle’s Dan Ashworth as sporting director.

His aim will be to lead Man United to competing at the top of the Premier League table again in the next few years, much like Arsenal are doing now. The Gunners sit at the top of the table ahead of Liverpool on goal difference.

Man United, in comparison, are in sixth place, 17 points behind the Gunners. The Red Devils’ last Premier League title came in 2013 in what was Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge of the club.

Ratcliffe isn’t a stranger to owning a club, with the businessman owning Nice in France and Lausanne in Switzerland. It was that, along with his purchase of United that prompted a question from Arsenal fan Geraint Thomas.

Speaking on his Geraint Thomas Cycling Club podcast , where Ratcliffe was a guest, the cyclist said: “We’ve got Nice football, Man United obviously now, Lausanne?” To which Ratcliffe replied: “Smaller club, but it’s quite an interesting club in Switzerland.”

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Thomas added: “(You’ve) Slowly been building up, haven’t you? Are you building up to buy a real good team like Arsenal one day?”

That prompted a laugh from Ratcliffe who answered with: “I did hear a rumour that you were the enemy.”

Ratcliffe also said that