The richest Britons are competing with the Qatari Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani to acquire the “Theatre of Dreams”.

Ineos, a chemical company owned by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, has sparked a dispute over Manchester United ownership after it also made a formal offer to buy the Red Devils.

Billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has entered the race to buy Manchester United with Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, the son of the former Prime Minister of Qatar, who in turn announced in an official statement that he has submitted an offer to acquire shares in the Red Team Devils. .

Sheikh Jassim said in a statement: “We are committed to restoring the glory of Manchester United inside and outside the stadium and we are committed to investing in football teams, training centres, the club stadium and all facilities.”

Ineos announced in an official statement today, Saturday, that it has sent a formal offer to Manchester United to buy the club and take full ownership of its shares.

“We see ourselves as the long-term custodians of Manchester United on behalf of the fans and wider surrounding community, we are ambitious and highly competitive,” the company said in a statement.

Ratcliffe added: “We want to invest in Manchester United to make it the number one club in the world again and put it back on the podium.”

And the American Glazer family, which owns Manchester United, said last November that it was exploring several options for the club, including a new investment or a sale after 17 years of buying it.

The family has set a deadline for accepting bids from people who want to buy Manchester United that ended on Friday, and no one has announced official offers to buy the club, except for Sheikh Jasim bin Hamad Al Thani and Ineos, owned by the British billionaire. .

Jim Ratcliffe’s name has been associated with Premier League football clubs over the past year, most notably when he made an offer to buy Chelsea Football Club last April.

And Ratcliffe announced in an official statement at the time that he had submitted an offer to buy Chelsea for £4.25 million from its Russian owner, Roman Abramovich, in order to compete with several organizations looking to take over the club.

The Chelsea deal was then settled by an alliance led by American businessman Todd Boyle, backed by the Clearlake Capital group, ending Ratcliffe’s dreams of owning the London club.

The British billionaire has been a fan of Manchester United since childhood, and in 2018 he was in the forefront of the UK’s richest businessmen with a fortune estimated at 21 billion pounds.

Jim Ratcliffe (70) and his company own many sports investments, as he acquired the Swiss club Lausanne in 2017, and two years later he acquired the French club Nice, and also owns a yacht racing team and ​bicycles.

Source: agencies