British billionaire Ratcliffe completes purchase of minority stake in Man Utd. football news

British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe said becoming co-owner of Manchester United is a “great honor” and “responsibility” after finalizing the purchase of a minority stake on Tuesday. The 71-year-old’s investment, which will give him control of football operations at the 20-time English champions, was approved by the Premier League and the English Football Association last week. On 24 December last year it was announced that Ratcliffe had agreed to buy a 25 percent stake in United from unpopular owners the Glazer family in a deal worth approximately £1.02 billion ($1.3 billion).

Following the completion of that deal, the founder of petrochemicals giant INEOS has invested a further $200 million to take his total stake to 27.7 per cent and enable investment in infrastructure at Old Trafford this year. Will invest 100 million more dollars by the end of this year.

“This marks the completion of the transaction but continues our journey to take Manchester United back to the top of English, European and world football with world-class facilities for our fans,” Ratcliffe said in a club statement. It’s the beginning.”

“Work will accelerate from today to achieve those objectives.”

United have not won the Premier League since former manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 and last won the Champions League in 2008 as their on-field fortunes deteriorated during the Glazers’ reign.

The club has become extremely unpopular with American supporters since its takeover in 2005, leaving the club millions of dollars in debt.

United executive co-chairman Joel Glazer said: “I want to welcome Sir Jim as co-owner and look forward to working closely with him and INEOS Sport to deliver a bright future for Manchester United Am.”

A United fan since childhood, Ratcliffe has already met with major supporter groups and local politicians as he plans to take United back to the top on and off the field.

Omar Berrada has been appointed the club’s new CEO from local rivals and Premier League champions Manchester City.

Newcastle’s Dan Ashworth’s search to become United’s sporting director is also nearing completion as Ratcliffe aims to revolutionize the Red Devils’ failing recruitment structure.

A UEFA report last week revealed that United had the most expensive squad in history at the end of last season with a combined transfer cost of $1.5 billion.

However, that investment has yielded no results on the field.

United exited the Champions League group stage earlier this season and finished sixth in the Premier League.

The deal is the latest in a portfolio of sports investments by Ratcliffe’s INEOS, which has used its huge profits to finance a range of projects in football, cycling, Formula One, athletics and sailing.

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