Sir Jim Ratcliffe has formally declared his interest in purchasing Manchester United from the Glazer family and this detail marks a potentially important date for the club and its future. It also comes at a time when manager Erik ten Hag and his players have delivered a remarkable upturn on the pitch.
Of course, no matter what happens for 90 minutes on a Saturday afternoon or whenever their fixtures take place, the major change United supporters want comes in the boardroom. But could that much-desired takeover or new investment, at the very least, finally be in the horizon?
United were purchased by the Glazer family in 2005 and - as reported by Manchester Evening News in November - the Americans are willing to listen to bids for their majority stake. In turn, that has led boyhood United supporter Sir Jim to formalise his interest, but why does the INEOS founder want to get involved at Old Trafford?
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INEOS and Sir Jim raised eyebrows in the summer when they launched an offer to buy Chelsea. However, that did not come to fruition, as American businessman Todd Boehly replaced Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich at the Stamford Bridge helm after he was forced to sell up.
But in that moment, the 70-year-old revealed what motivates him to purchase a Premier League team. Speaking to BBC Sport last May, Sir Jim said: "We are British and we have great intentions for Chelsea. If I was [financial advisors] Raine Group, I wouldn't close any door."
His approach came at the 11th hour on that occasion. But with United seemingly in his blood, the British billionaire - who has an estimated net worth around £11billion - has set his stall out early this time around and he spoke directly to the Glazer family about a takeover even before they wanted out.
It was a hot-topic put forward to Sir Jim when he spoke at an event hosted by The Financial Times - in association with his company INEOS - back in October. He said: "Manchester United is owned by the Glazer family whom I have met. I've met Joel and Avram and they are the nicest people, I have to say, they are proper gentlemen.
"If it had been for sale in the summer then, yes, we would have probably had a go following on from the Chelsea thing, but we can't sit around hoping that one day Manchester United will become available. We have an exciting sporting franchise, but the one thing that we don't have is a Premier [League] team."
Sir Jim, whose investment within the professional sports arena includes French Ligue 1 club OGC Nice, as well as a partnership with the Mercedes-AMG F1 team, added: "The most popular sport in the world is football. It's the sport we were brought up with and it's the one closest to us.
"We really should have an asset [from the Premier League] in the sporting franchise."
According to the Press Association, Ineos is also keen to expand its sporting portfolio, which already includes ownership of French Ligue 1 side Nice and Swiss team FC Lausanne-Sport and sponsorship of the cycling team Ineos Grenadiers, formerly Team Sky.
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