Liverpool legend Souness told Jim Ratcliffe not to buy a club before Man Utd bid

Sir Jim Ratcliffe clearly has the aptitude to be a Manchester United man as he's been sticking it to Liverpool legends for years, apparently.

The septuagenarian billionaire, who is on the verge of acquiring a 25% stake in his boyhood club, decided not to take ex-Liverpool midfielder Graeme Souness' advice when they met four years ago. Souness claims Ratcliffe asked if he should buy a football club, and the former Sky Sports pundit did his best to discourage him.

"He asked me if it was a good idea buying a club," the Scotsman wrote in the Daily Mail. "At the time, he was not in the press every day. I told him overnight he would become a household name, and I asked if he wanted that. He said no. I said, 'Don’t buy a football club then!'.

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A few months later Ratcliffe's INEOS group bought Ligue 1 club Nice, and in 2022 he tried to buy Chelsea following Roman Abramovich's sudden departure. Souness added that he was drawn to Ratcliffe's mystique, though admitted he wasn't particularly impressed with his tutelage of Nice.

He wrote: "I’m not sure Nice have improved under his stewardship, but the experience will serve him well. He was very impressive, a man of few words."

Will Ratcliffe eventually become majority owner of Man Utd? Let us know in the comments section below.

Ratcliffe's £1.4billion bid for a minor stake in United won't give him full control of the club, but it's understood he's asked the Glazers to allow him to manage all footballing operations moving forward. While meeting with club officials back in March, Ratcliffe reportedly slammed the club's recruitment policy, and detailed plans to improve the internal setup.

He noted that big money had been recklessly spent on ageing players and sky-high wages, and suggested ways to make squad-building more efficient.

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Mercedes chief Toto Wolff, who has worked with Ratcliffe ever since INEOS become principal partners of his F1 team in 2020, insists the 71-year-old will be a huge asset to United. "Jim and his partners [run] a no bulls*** organisation," the Austrian said.

"They are huge in terms of revenue and profit and decisions are made quickly. With Jim, all the bulls*** is cut out, so I think wherever he gets his power and his resources and all his character behind it that's going to be an add-on for any team."

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