Sir Jim Ratcliffe has FINALLY completed his minority takeover of Man Utd (Photo: Getty)
Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he and INEOS will ‘fully unlock Manchester United’s potential’ after completing their minority takeover of the club.
On Christmas Eve it was announced that the British billionaire had finally secured a 25 per cent stake in the Premier League side.
He has paid majority owners the Glazer Family £1.3billion for the stake and will now take charge of the Red Devils’ football operations.
In a statement Ratcliffe said: ‘As a local boy and a lifelong supporter of the Club, I am very pleased that we have been able to agree a deal with the Manchester United Board that delegates us management responsibility of the football operations of the Club.
‘Whilst the commercial success of the Club has ensured there have always been available funds to win trophies at the highest level, this potential has not been fully unlocked in recent times.
‘We will bring the global knowledge, expertise and talent from the wider INEOS Sport group to help drive further improvement at the Club, while also providing funds intended to enable future investment into Old Trafford.
‘We are here for the long term and recognise that a lot of challenges and hard work lie ahead, which we will approach with rigour, professionalism and passion. We are committed to working with everyone at the Club – the Board, staff, players and fans – to help drive the Club forward.
The INEOS founder will take control of sporting affairs as part of the deal (Picture: Getty)
‘Our shared ambition is clear: we all want to see Manchester United back where we belong, at the very top of English, European and world football.’
It has long been acknowledged that United’s decline both on and off the pitch can be attributed to the Glazers and their mismanaging of the club, with no league titles and only a handful of trophies in the last decade, while Old Trafford stadium has decayed under their watch.
While welcomed by fans, the timing of the takeover on Christmas Eve has been heavily criticised, not least by club legend Gary Neville.
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The former defender tweeted: ‘Manchester United 2023 has been a disgrace to the end.
‘The timing of this is truly awful and no functioning organisation would even think about it.
‘Anyway all the very best to Jim Ratcliffe and I hope he can somehow work out a way to get the club right again and back to being something respectable on and off the pitch.’
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