Massive developments with Manchester United and the long-running takeover saga this past weekend. Who says international breaks are boring? The door opened to Sir Jim Ratcliffe taking over a 25% share of the club, once Sheikh Jassim bin al Thani officially dropped out of the running Friday night. We did a post on Sheikh Jassim here. As for Ratcliffe, we did an article on his minority share purchase situation, in detail, over at this link.
And yet again here. So we have been all over this stuff!
Ratcliffe, a British billionaire who owns the giant chemical corporation INEOS, has a meeting with the MUFC board, where they’ll discuss his latest offer “as soon as the next few days.”
It is thought that Ratcliffe could have power of transfer business activity, which would definitely appease the section of the fan base that is really fed up with the Glazers, and all the missteps they have made in the transfer market in recent years.
What about the manager situation? Erik ten Hag is under fire right now given how poorly his second season at the helm has gone, thus far.
According to a report in ESPN today, Ratcliffe wants to keep Ten Hag as part of the plan, for the club. The report goes on to say that Ratcliffe is “hopeful that by acquiring 25% of the club, it will open the door to a full takeover further down the line but, at least in the short-term, the Glazers will keep their majority.”
So I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how that pans out, but you may be asking yourself what does owning 1/4 of Man United cost? Apparently, the business tycoon is going to pay between £1.3 billion ($1.576bn) and £1.5bn.
This despite United’s current market value being about £2.6bn.
So that brings you up to speed on all that. Elsewhere Scott McTominay has been scoring goals at will for country but just doesn’t get major minutes on the club level. The legendary hero in the last match that United played there was concern that he could be on the move in the transfer market.
United entertained the idea of selling him in the summer, with the likes of Fulham, Newcastle United and West Ham United all strongly interested. However, the Sunday tabloids claim that Scott McTominay will be staying put, come January transfer window.
More on this situation over at this post.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.