The potential takeover of Manchester United reached its latest chapter on Thursday evening after a second bid from Sir Jim Ratcliffe was submitted.
A spokesperson for Ratcliffe's INEOS group confirmed to MEN Sport confirmed as such, with the petrochemicals billionaire and boyhood United fan joining several other unnamed second-stage bidders. He and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani have long been thought of as the two serious contenders, although neither managed to meet the original Wednesday 9pm deadline and both were forced to ask for an extension.
That extra time was granted by the Raine Group, the merchant bank overseeing the sale on behalf of the Glazers, allowing both frontrunners to finalise their revised offers. Sheikh Jassim's proposal is expected to follow in the coming days, but confirmation of Ratcliffe's offer - he plans to take the 69% shareholding owned currently by the Glazers - reportedly values United at around £5billion.
