Sir Jim Ratcliffe is on the verge of becoming minority shareholder at Manchester United with a deal expected to be agreed during the November international break.
It is expected that Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group will hand over around £1.25bn to buy a 25% stake in the club, and a report from BBC Sport suggests an announcement could come as early as next week.
Ratcliffe has been working on a deal with the Glazer family and it was only last month when Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani withdrew his interest because his last bid did not meet the Glazers’ demands.
Now, we must wait for clarity on how this new ownership model will work at United. Ratcliffe wants control over sporting operations at Old Trafford which means uncertainty for a number of the current employees such as Richard Arnold and John Murtough.
In turn, Sir Dave Brailsford will be heavily involved and there was been rumours about Paul Mitchell arriving in some capacity.
BBC Sport has been told an announcement will not be made on Monday given that is the date of Sir Bobby Charlton’s funeral.
Ratcliffe and his team have a lot of work to do at United, but the biggest problem for fans is that the Glazers will remain. We can only hope this is the start of the end for the American family at United.
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