Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham's owners have been warned of what could be about to happen at Man Utd as takeover hopeful hopes to wake Sir Jim Ratcliffe up.
Over recent times, we have already seen Newcastle and most recently the Blues acquire new owners. Both the PIF and Todd Boehly-Clearlake have big plans for their respective sides as both try to shake up the status quo at the top of the Premier League currently with the Man City and Liverpool domination. The Toon have so far been surprisingly stable in their spending as they look for gradual progression up the Premier League table under Eddie Howe's guidance.
For Chelsea, their new American owners are looking to make big statements of intent early on into their reign to send shivers and shockwaves to the rest of their competitors. So far this summer, they have spent around £170million on five new recruits and could end up this summer outlaying a grand total of £300m plus depending on what happens amid Wesley Fofana, Frenkie de Jong and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang talks.
READ MORE: Who is Sir Jim Ratcliffe? The billionaire who has tabled £4bn Chelsea takeover bid
As these two aforementioned clubs look to progress, one club going in the opposite direction is Manchester United. Their opening day loss at home to Brighton didn't only reflect the poor business done so far this summer but also the mood within the place with Erik ten Hag already facing a battle to prove himself despite the lack of backing.
The likes of Darwin Nunez, de Jong, Denzel Dumfries and Antony were four main targets that ten Hag demanded during his job interview with the Glazers but so far, none have been delivered. In fact, Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martínez have been the only business done to date with more panic-type movement expected over the next three weeks.
Adrien Rabiot and a new attacker is projected before September 1. Amidst all the frustration on and off the pitch after Brighton, Michael Knighton, a takeover hopeful who failed with a previous bid back in the 1980s, has come out to outline a 'hostile' type bid to displace the Glazer family.
What is the purpose of this proposal though and should this come as a worry to Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham fans?
The simple answer being yes due to the fact that despite Knighton not being too wealthy, his long-term plan if successful in his bid will send fear to all of Todd Boehly, Stan Kroenke and Daniel Levy.
This is because going public with his takeover plan, he hopes will wake up former Blues takeover hopeful Ratcliffe into taking action. The current Nice owner is worth a reported £6.3billion, more than any of the London clubs' owners and his support of the Red Devils makes this prospect a real possibility but only if Knighton succeeds with his Consortium in getting the Tampa Bay owners out permanently.
"The reason I’ve been chasing the likes of Jim Ratcliffe is because he does have the resources, he is a Manchester lad originally, he claims to be a Man United fan, and I believe he is," Knighton exclusively told the United Stand. "If I can smoke Jim Ratcliffe out and bring him to Old Trafford, my job is done. I want the likes of Jim Ratcliffe to join the consortium. There are people that are a lot wealthier than myself. I certainly don’t have the funds to buy Manchester United.
"We need to be taken seriously as a whole fan group because, really, this is a fan bid and I’ve been working my backside off, putting people together to make a hostile bid and say, ‘look, here’s the money’, which of course they are going to refuse. But if we can say we have got worldwide fanbase support, we’ve got a chance."
He then went on to further clarify on getting the 69-year-old involved in this plan down the line: "We can certainly launch a bid, but even my consortium as a collective does not have the resources of Jim Ratcliffe. There’s no question about that. Jim is the wealthiest man in Britain, he’s a football fan, (and) he’s a nice man.
"When he bid for Chelsea, you can understand that, because he’s heavily involved in London (with) his amazing firm Ineos, which is a world leader in the chemical petrol industry. He went public and said, ‘I don’t need to take any money out of Chelsea, or any football club, because I make enough money from the chemical petrol business that I have.'
"Now that was music to every fans’ ears, so clearly we would welcome Jim Ratcliffe. Of course, everyone needs Jim Ratcliffe because Jim is the real deal! He is the man who could restore our great football club to where it should be. I’m not in that league. I’m not even in the league of some of the people I have managed to get round the table."
Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham fans - How worried would you be if United fan Sir Jim Ratcliffe was to eventually takeover the club he supports in the long-term? Would this move put the Red Devils back at the top of the Premier League? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
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