How much Sir Jim Ratcliffe bid to buy Manchester United – report

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It has now been reported how much Sir Jim Ratcliffe bid to buy Manchester United outright at the first stage of the process.

A report by French outlet Foot Mercato claims Ratcliffe tabled £4 billion to buy United from the Glazer family yesterday.

The soft deadline for bids was yesterday and we know of two concrete offers so far, from Ratcliffe and Qatari Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani.

There is no onus on any bidder at this stage to make public how much they have offered, but if this report is true, we know what the Englishman has put down.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe bid £4 billion to buy Manchester United

The report says we do not know what the Glazers will actually accept for the club, with rumours reporting an asking price between £4 and £6 billion of late.

We also do not know what the Qatari bid is going to be worth, and there are more stages of the process to come.

Serious bidders will be invited to see more of United’s financial information before deciding whether to go further with buying the club.

Ratcliffe says he wants to put the Manchester back into Manchester United and had declared his interest in a bid before yesterday’s deadline.

More information has been released on this via The Guardian who clarify Ratcliffe’s offer ‘will not’ put United into debt, claiming he would not pursue a Glazer-style leveraged buyout.

The paper report: “The Ineos owner hopes to paint himself as a safe custodian of the club he supports and in tune with the values of their fanbase.”

Ratcliffe and his company INEOS have now made a statement about their bid for full control of United, which reads: “Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS have submitted a bid for majority ownership of Manchester United Football Club.

“We would see our role as the long-term custodians of Manchester United on behalf of the fans and the wider community.

“We are ambitious and highly competitive and would want to invest in Manchester United to make them the number one club in the world once again … making the club a beacon for a modern, progressive, fan-centred approach to ownership.

“We want a Manchester United anchored in its proud history and roots in the north-west of England, putting the Manchester back into Manchester United and clearly focused on winning the Champions League.”