Sir Jim Ratcliffe issues warning to Glazers after visiting Manchester United

Prospective Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe insists he will not pay a ‘stupid price’ for the Premier League club.

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The British billionaire visited Old Trafford and United’s Carrington training complex last week and also held talks with the club.

Interest from Ratcliffe and other parties comes after United’s owners, the Glazer family, announced in November that they were open to selling.

Ratcliffe, 70, is one of two interested parties to have publicly announced their bids to Raine, the merchant bank brought in to assist the club in assessing offers.

But the Ineos chief executive is adamant he will not pay over the odds, telling the Wall Street Journal: ‘How do you decide the price of a painting? How do you decide the price of a house? It’s not related to how much it cost to build or how much it cost to paint.

‘What you don’t want to do is pay stupid prices for things because then you regret it subsequently.’

Ratcliffe already owns French club Nice and added that his interest in Manchester United would be ‘purely in winning things’, describing the club as a ‘community asset’.

The other party known to be interested in buying United is Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, whose delegation visited Old Trafford the day before Ratcliffe’s trip.

Manchester United are the biggest and most successful team in England, having won a record 20 league titles, 12 FA Cups, six League Cups and three European Cups.

The Red Devils have largely struggled since legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 but appear to have turned a corner since Erik ten Hag took over last summer, with United ending their six-year trophy drought last month.

Manchester United are currently third in the Premier League – 19 points behind Arsenal with two games in hand – and will look to win the Europa League and FA Cup after the international break.

Ten Hag confirmed he had met prospective United owner Ratcliffe during his visit last Friday, telling reporters: ‘I just met them, we shook hands, but I’m just focussed on the game.’

Asked if he had a message for any new owner, the former Ajax boss added: ‘No, my job in this moment is to focus on the game so let’s talk about the football.’

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