Man Utd takeover: Glazers ‘agree win-win deal’ with Ratcliffe as finance expert reveals ‘new details’
Finance expert Kieran Maguire believes the Glazer family have ‘agreed the mother of all deals’ with Manchester United bidder Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The Premier League giants have been on the market since the end of last year. After missing out on Chelsea, INEOS chief Ratcliffe – who already owns Ligue Un outfit OGC Nice – quickly expressed his interest in buying Man Utd.
Ratcliffe was being challenged by Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim, who eventually exited the race as he was only ever interested in a full takeover.
The Brit was also keen to complete a full takeover at the start of the process but he was open to changing the structure of his bid and he has finally settled on a 25% stake for around £1.25bn.
Ratcliffe is completing this deal with the view to becoming Man Utd‘s majority stakeholder in a couple of years but he will take control of footballing matters at Old Trafford straight away.
The incoming United shareholder is already making changes behind the scenes as John Murtough is expected to follow Richard Arnold in leaving.
Maguire has now told Football Insider about ‘new details’ of this deal, which essentially gives the Glazers a “get-out-of-jail-free card”.
“Handing over sporting control is a get-out-of-jail-free card for the Glazers,” Maguire told Football Insider. “Because if things don’t work out on the pitch, they can now argue that they’re not the problem.
“They will pass over that responsibility to Sir Jim Ratcliffe. If things do work out on the pitch, then it increases the value of the club and they’ve still got a significant share. So it’s a win-win deal for the Glazers.
“We know that they’ve already milked Manchester United significantly in the form of dividends and minor share payouts over the years. This is simply going to add to their wealth. And on top of that, they still have a significant share in one of the biggest brands in world sport.“
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Nice head coach Francesco Farioli meanwhile has suggested that “there is always an open door” when working with Ratcliffe.
“I like to listen to the feedback I receive because it’s good to have different perspectives and different input. Afterwards, I have freedom in the decisions on the pitch,” Farioli told The Telegraph.
“In other things, a bit more for the medium and long term, there is always an open door. We share our opinions and we have periodic, day-by-day or weekly conversations.
“But also with the club, we have a monthly review of everything with all the parts involved – about the strategy, about the present and also about the future.”
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