Sir Jim Ratcliffe ‘makes decision on second club’ as new Man Utd details emerge

LGBTQ+ activist concerned by potential Qatari takeover of Man Utd

Industry insiders think Sir Jim Ratcliffe is ready to sell Nice if he manages to buy Manchester United, according to reports. The INEOS chief currently owns the French side but remains optimistic of seizing power at Old Trafford. Sheikh Jassim is still a strong rival, however, with many fans keen to see the Qatari billionaire become the driving force at the club instead.

According to The Athletic, some within the footballing industry think Ratcliffe will try and sell Nice.

His time as owner of the Ligue 1 giants hasn’t been an overwhelming success, with the French side recently finishing ninth in the table.

Ratcliffe was also recently slammed by Nice captain Dante, with the former Bayern Munich star saying: “I think at some point you have to be clear in what you’re saying.

“To maintain a project, maybe you need to speak less about objectives and work in silence to create an environment of competitors.

“Because the expectation is even bigger, and then after, people are frustrated.

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“The best thing to do is to prepare as quickly as possible for next season in order to start it well.”

There would be questions about Ratcliffe owning both Nice and United providing his pursuit of the latter pays off.

But the report says the 70-year-old getting the Ligue 1 side off his books, and talk of such an action, is ‘being talked about as a sign of confidence’.

It’s also suggested that Sir Dave Brailsford, an ally of Ratcliffe’s amid his takeover quest, is ‘making enquiries on sporting decisions’.

Ratcliffe ‘has also enlisted a bank to arrange specific financing’.

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However, it’s still unclear what will ultimately happen.

Sheikh Jassim continues to work on a deal in the background, with the Qatari billionaire making five offers for the club so far.

It has emerged the Glazers enlisted the help of PSG chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi to help convince his countryman to up his current offer.

And with tension rife behind the scenes, the situation remains in a state of flux.

Erik ten Hag wants a swift end to the saga so he can focus on strengthening the squad in this summer’s transfer window.

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Harry Kane and Mason Mount, of Tottenham and Chelsea respectively, are the club’s top targets.

But United are unlikely to sign anybody until they know who will be making the big decisions at the club going forward.

Ratcliffe has been coy whenever quizzed about his pursuit of United.

Speaking last year, however, the INEOS chief said the Glazers were the ‘nicest people’ he’d met.

“Manchester United is owned by the Glazer family, whom I have met,” he said in October.

“I’ve met Joel and Avram and they are the nicest people, I have to say, they are proper gentlemen.

“They don’t want to sell it. It’s owned by the six children of the father and they don’t want to sell it.

“If it had been for sale in the summer then, yes, we would have probably had a go following on from the Chelsea thing, but we can’t sit around hoping that one day Manchester United will become available.

“We have an exciting sporting franchise [Ligue 1 side Nice], but the one thing we don’t have is a Premier [League] team.

“The most popular sport in the world is football and it is the sport we were brought up with and it’s the one most close to us. We really should have an asset in the sporting franchise.”

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