December 24th 2023.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has finally completed his minority takeover of Manchester United. After investing £1.3 billion for a 25 per cent stake in the Premier League side, the British billionaire is now responsible for the Red Devils' football operations.
In a statement, Ratcliffe expressed his optimism for the club’s future: "As a local boy and a lifelong supporter of the Club, I am very pleased that we have been able to agree a deal with the Manchester United Board that delegates us management responsibility of the football operations of the Club. We will bring the global knowledge, expertise and talent from the wider INEOS Sport group to help drive further improvement at the Club, while also providing funds intended to enable future investment into Old Trafford."
He went on to say that the shared ambition is clear: "We all want to see Manchester United back where we belong, at the very top of English, European and world football."
The timing of the takeover on Christmas Eve has been met with criticism, particularly from club legend Gary Neville. He tweeted: "The timing of this is truly awful and no functioning organisation would even think about it. Anyway all the very best to Jim Ratcliffe and I hope he can somehow work out a way to get the club right again and back to being something respectable on and off the pitch."
It has long been acknowledged that United’s decline on and off the pitch can be attributed to the Glazers and their mismanagement of the club. With no league titles and only a handful of trophies in the last decade, as well as Old Trafford stadium decaying under their watch, Sir Jim Ratcliffe's takeover of Manchester United is a welcomed change for fans.
Now that Ratcliffe has control of the sporting affairs, hopefully he will be able to turn the club around and restore it to its former glory. Everyone, from the board, staff, and players, to the fans, will be looking forward to the long-term positive changes Ratcliffe will bring to Manchester United.
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