Who is Sir Jim Ratcliffe? Meet the man who wants to buy Manchester United and can actually afford to

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made his intentions known that he wishes to buy Manchester United.

Earlier on Wednesday a report by Bloomberg claimed that the Glazers were considering selling a minority stake in United and that they were discussing this with potential investors. When The Times posed the question as to whether this would be something that Ratcliffe, owner of Ineos, would be interested in, a spokesperson 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."

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MEN Sport has taken a look at who Ratcliffe is and his background.

Who is Sir Jim Ratcliffe?

Ratcliffe was born in Failsworth and is a boyhood United fan. He is currently the owner of French Ligue 1 side Nice and owns the chemical company Ineos.

Football is not the only passion of Ratcliffe's as his Ineos group are the backers of cycling team Ineos Grenadiers, formerly Team Sky. Although he has supported United since he was a child, after moving to London, Ratcliffe became a season ticket holder at Chelsea.

He would also go on to make a last-minute bid to take over the Stamford Bridge club when Roman Abramovich was forced to sell earlier this year, however his attempts failed. According to Forbes, as of 2022, Ratcliffe has an estimated net worth of $16.3bn (£13.5bn).

What has Ineos previously said about buying a Premier League club?

Speaking back in 2019 to