British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has submitted an official bid to purchase Manchester United, according to a report by The Telegraph.
Reports of Ratcliffe submitting his offer to the Raine Group, who are handling the sale on behalf of the Glazers, arrived just hours after it was confirmed that Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani had tabled his offer. The 'soft deadline' for interested parties to submit their bids was at 10pm on Friday night.
The Ratcliffe camp responded to Al Thani's offer by releasing confirmation of his own bid – reportedly telling the US-based Glazer family, who put United on the market back in November, that he wants to "put the Manchester back into Manchester United". Ratcliffe was born in Greater Manchester and has been one of the leading runners to buy the club in recent months.
