Google News
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of the richest Britons spoke about his desire to become the owner of Manchester United and the offer he gave. "I’m a lifelong Manchester United fan. And I was there in that most remarkable match in 1999 in Barcelona, which is deeply etched in my mind.
Manchester United is owned by the Glazer family.
I met Joel and Avram, and they are the nicest people. They are gentlemen. And they don’t want to sell.
And it’s owned by the six children of the father, and they don’t want to sell.
If it had been for sale in the summer, yes, we would probably have had a go following on from the Chelsea thing.
But we can’t sit around hoping that one day Manchester United will become available”. - he said, as quoted by eurosport.com
Ratcliffe on another offer
Besides United, Ratcliffe has another club in his plans. “Well not a Premier League, a premier club.
I think Nice has got a very interesting history. It’s an old club and it is a very attractive place for footballers as there is a Californian climate down there”. Chelsea was one of the options, but he knew what that risk entailed.
“When Chelsea came up for sale the three bidders were all American financial institutions,” he said.
"They were looking at Chelsea as a financial asset. Whereas we looked at it as a community asset. So our view was that had we bought Chelsea, we would never have owned Chelsea.
"We would just have been the custodians for a period of time.
It’s like St Paul’s Cathedral. It’s part of the community and you shouldn’t treat it as a financial asset.
"And, interestingly, they can’t invest in the major football clubs in America. Because America doesn’t allow venture capitalists to buy sports clubs in America. So they come over to the UK and they buy ours."