According to reports, Sir Jim Ratcliffe will finalize his agreement to buy 25% of Manchester United during the November international break.
The Glazer family, the club’s present owners, first indicated they would be open to talks about selling the 20-time English champions about a year ago.
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, a banker from Qatar, abandoned his offer lately, although he had long been considered the front-runner to finish a full purchase of the Red Devils.
The owner and founder of the INEOS Group, Ratcliffe, is likely to take over football operations upon his arrival. Ratcliffe is projected to pay approximately £1.3 billion to acquire 25% of Man United.
The agreement, which would make the 71-year-old a minority shareholder in the team, is expected to be finalized during the next international break, according to BBC Sport.
According to the article, Ratcliffe had originally intended to purchase 69% of the team, but he changed his offer in response to the Glazers’ decision to forgo a full sale at this time.
Though it’s unknown what the terms of a possible sale would be at this point, it’s believed that the British tycoon intends to finish a phased takeover of the team.
Ratcliffe, who made a bid to buy Chelsea last year, is said to have spent an additional £245 million to upgrade Man United’s facilities.
Both the club’s training facility and Old Trafford have come under fire, with the renowned stadium lagging behind some of the team’s Premier League opponents in terms of contemporary facilities.
Ratcliffe is supposedly firmly in support of the club’s manager, Erik ten Hag, despite the team’s on-field problems this season. The Dutchman is expected to be given the opportunity to turn the season around.
Nine losses in all competitions this season—five in the Premier League—have been incurred, including Wednesday’s stunning 4-3 Champions League setback to Copenhagen.
Despite being in eighth place in the rankings, the Red Devils are only six points behind Arsenal in fourth place, having won six of their 11 league games this season.
The Manchester Evening News reports that Ratcliffe and Joel Glazer, the club’s co-chairman, have been debating altering the organization’s football departmental structure.
Because Ratcliffe is anticipated to want to bring in his own team, the positions of Man United football director John Murtough and chief executive Richard Arnold are said to be in jeopardy.