Who is Jim Ratcliffe? Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a British billionaire and the CEO of INEOS, recently paid 1.2 billion pounds to purchase 25% of Manchester United. One positive aspect of the acquisition is that Ratcliffe now influences the Red Devils’ football operations.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down as manager of Manchester United in 2013, the team has struggled in Europe and has not been able to win the league title.
United placed last in its group this season and was eliminated from the Champions League at the group round. It is now four games behind in all competitions and sits seventh in the Premier League standings.
Here are the implications of this agreement for Manchester United, as well as what Ratcliffe and his group can bring to the table.
Who is Jim Ratcliffe : Sports teams owned by Jim Ratcliffe
Ratcliffe has ownership stakes in four sports teams before Manchester United; thus, he is no stranger to the world of sports. In 2017, FC Lausanne-Sport, a Swiss football team competing in the top tier, was purchased by Ratcliffe’s company, INEOS.
Also, he is the owner of INEOS Britannia, a British sailing team that is participating in the America’s Cup under the direction of Sir Ben Ainslie, a sailing legend and CEO.
In 2020, Ratcliffe acquired the cycling team “Team Sky,” rebranding it as Ineos Grenadiers. His squad won the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France, so his signings of stars like Richard Carapaz and Rohan Dennis paid off handsomely.
In addition, he owns a third of Mercedes-AMG, one of the largest Formula One teams.
Ratcliffe also owns the French football team OGC Nice, which he purchased in 2019 and has been instrumental in turning around the underdog team’s fortunes ever since.
What has Ratcliffe done with OGC Nice?
Ratcliffe declared that Nice will challenge PSG for the championship in five years after purchasing the Ligue 1 team. Despite a difficult start to the season, Nice is presently second in the league, five points behind PSG.
When it comes to sports, the British guy is bold and impetuous, as seen when he fired Patrick Viera to sign Christophe Galtier, who had just won the championship with Lille in 2019.
Given that Manchester United hasn’t done well in the transfer market lately, Ratcliffe’s reputation for being highly active in it should be welcome news to supporters of the team.
Ratcliffe’s net transfer cost has nearly doubled since joining Nice, demonstrating his willingness to spend heavily to achieve the greatest results for the team. He brought in Kasper Dolberg, who was playing at his best during the 2020 European Championship, and the youthful striker succeeded, ending as his team’s top scorer.
It is evident from the signings of Amine Gouiri, Kephrem Thuram, and Jean-Clair Todibo that his philosophy in the market is firmly centered on bringing in young talent.
Fans may see such underappreciated treasures around Europe on United’s wishlist in the upcoming transfer window, even though the situation with Manchester United might not be the same since the club already has some incredible young talent in its youth systems.
Ratcliffe is not hesitant to spend a lot of money to get what he wants, but in the past, this has backfired on him because he has overspent on certain players. Staley Nsoki was purchased by Nice for €12.50 million, and he was sold for about half that amount the following season.
Even with Terem Moffi, who cost 30 million euros to sign this season despite the young forward’s strong play, the player might have been acquired for less money.
Manchester United supporters are excited that a local fan will soon be in charge of the team, but they will have to wait patiently to see results. Ratcliffe has failed in his past endeavors, but he has always picked himself up and moved on. This is evident now, as OGC Nice and his Swiss team Lausanne-Sport are currently doing well.
Chelsea Bid
Ratcliffe did not participate in a months-long bidding process; instead, he launched an unexpectedly late bid for Chelsea, a Premier League team, in 2022.
When Ratcliffe made his bid, a group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital had previously beaten off competition from the likes of Chicago Cubs owner Ricketts and Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca to go into exclusive negotiations to acquire former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
Ratcliffe maintained that his interest in United was genuine, even though his long-standing affection for the team was widely known.
At the time, he declared, “We are British and have great intentions for Chelsea.” In the end, his offer was made too late to stop Boehly and Clearlake from taking over.
When reports of a Glazer sale began to circulate later that year, Ratcliffe made it known that he was interested in purchasing United.
Then he changed that position.
“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,” INEOS stated in a statement. “Our position has developed since the summer.” “Investing in this would yield a higher return on our capital than purchasing a Premier League team of superior caliber.”
Following the Glazers’ declaration that they would consider selling, Ratcliffe made an offer to acquire the Americans’ share.
Nice
Ratcliffe’s Nice team is performing well in the south of France, but he also has the responsibility of helping United become competitive in the Premier League, a league it once completely controlled.
Four years ago, Ratcliffe finalized the takeover of Nice. Following a few uneven seasons, Nice is now fighting reigning champion Paris Saint-Germain under the direction of its philosophy-studying Italian coach, Francesco Farioli.
After 17 matches, Nice is five points behind leader PSG in the French league.
Therefore, Nice can reasonably aim for second place and a berth in the Champions League for the next season.
However, that might be a problem. If two clubs with the same owner having a “decisive influence” over how they are operated come into contact with one another during the season, they are not permitted to participate in European championships according to UEFA regulations that have been in effect for more than 20 years.
Priority is given to the team that places higher in its home league if both teams advance to the Champions League. As it stands, that’s nice.
Lausanne
Lausanne-Sport was the soccer team that Ratcliffe originally bought into in 2017. In Switzerland, where it relocated some of its operations in 2010, INEOS was already a supporter of the local team.
The management of INEOS, a top-tier Swiss club, has announced goals of working with youth academies in Africa and qualifying for European championships. Enzo, the son of legendary soccer star Zinedine Zidane, was its first player to sign.
Currently ranked tenth in the revamped 12-team league is Lausanne.
Ratcliffe has made successful forays into the realm of cycling as well.
After ownership changed back in 2019, the formidable Team Sky changed to become Team INEOS, then INEOS Grenadiers.
Under Ratcliffe, the team has continued to be a significant force, but Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates have put a stop to their dominance at the Tour de France, which INEOS last won with Egan Bernal in 2019.
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