Gary Neville has thrown his weight of support behind Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s bid to buy Manchester United.
Britain’s richest man, who is worth roughly £12.5billion, this week became the first party to officially confirm their intention to buy the club from the Glazers. United’s American owners placed the Red Devils up for sale last November, with potential suitors needing to register their interest with merchant Raine Group in order to begin due diligence.
And while United legend Neville believes the Glazers leaving Old Trafford is still the most important outcome, he has backed Ratcliffe to do right by the Premier League giants.
“The main thing is that the Glazers leave as quickly as possible and the second thing is that whoever takes it over, if they could hand it over to people who are in good hands and have a feeling for the club, that would be great,” Neville told Sky Sports.
“Jim Ratcliffe was born in Manchester and knows the area. If he wins it, I think there will be a lot of very happy Manchester United fans. He would want to do the right thing by the club - in fact I am sure that he would.
“That’s the main thing beyond the Glazers leaving, that they don’t hand it over…I don’t think United can hand it over to another investment firm who are expecting a return on their money. That’s what worries me a little bit about private enquiry coming into football and that ultimately, they are looking for a return on their money and a return on their investment.
“If that’s the case, it could mean that United aren’t in a similar place to where this club [ Manchester City ] are here, or Newcastle with benefactors who are happy to live debt free, not have interest payments, not leverage debt against the club. Manchester United need to be a debt-free football club, with someone who’s willing to put money in.”
It is anticipated that the Glazers will look for more than £5bn before sanctioning a sale - a value which Neville fears could be prohibitive toward Ratcliffe doing a deal as a sole investor.
Neville continued: “The problem is the price is going to be big and you’re going to need deep pockets. Whether Jim will need to bring people with him, I don’t know. But I’m hopeful that can happen, but it could be any number of buyers, it’s not going to be just Jim Ratcliffe bidding to buy this football club.
“The main thing is that they do the right thing, I’d like to see the criteria for what a new owner of Manchester United looks like. I’ve said that before…debt free, making sure they manage the facilities, making sure they put money into the football project. I think they are really important things.”
He added: “The priority for the new owner has to be winning. A winning football club and a winning Manchester United become very difficult to stop. We’ve seen that in the past.”
The INEOS chief has a varied sporting portfolio, including Ligue 1 club OGC Nice, but via a spokesperson confirmed his interest in taking over United. "We have formally put ourselves into the process," the Times were told.
