British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has confirmed his interest in buying Manchester United.
Both Liverpool and Man United are currently open to offers for a potential takeover. Fenway Sports Group released a statement in November outline their stance on being open to further investment.
As things stand there has been no bid made for Liverpool and no high level talks that are close to any kind of conclusion. Sources in the United States have told the ECHO that little had changed since November and that there was, as yet, no "real" interest to come forward and engage with FSG around a takeover or investment.
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Now Ratcliffe, who is the chief executive of Ineos chemical group and widely known as Britain’s richest man, has confirmed his intent to move for Man United.
Ratcliffe is a United fan, with Bloomberg’s billionaire index claiming the 70-year-old has a net worth of around £10billion, while Forbes puts his net worth at around £12.6billion.
“We have formally put ourselves into the process,” a spokesman for Ratcliffe said on Tuesday in a statement to The Times.
Ratcliffe released a statement back in November confirming that he would not be tabling an offer for Liverpool. At the time there was speculation that the billionaire, who also owns French club Nice, could be plotting a Premier League move.
"Our position has developed since the summer and we are now focusing our efforts in Nice and raising our ambitions for the club to make them into a top tier club in France to compete with PSG," a spokesperson said in November.
“This would represent much better value for our investment than buying one of the top tier Premier League clubs."
It remains to be seen what kind of impact Ratcliffe's public statement will have on other potential bidders for both United and Liverpool, with some recent reports suggesting formal bids could arrive as soon as next month.
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