Chelsea had looked to be entering the final stages of their search for a new owner, but a shock new bidder has entered the frame. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is the owner of Ineos, has entered a bid of £4bn, according to The Times.
Ratcliffe is from Oldham and has been linked with the purchase of Manchester United from the Glazers. The 69-year-old is a boyhood United fan and talked about the potential of owning the club on many occasions. He currently owns French side OGC Nice.
In 2019, it was rumoured that the Glazers were open to selling United and the asking price was somewhere in the region of the £4bn that Ratcliffe is now spending on Chelsea. Some reports stated that he had enquired about how much he would need to pay to buy the club.
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Later, he rubbished the claims in an interview with The Times. He said: "Would I consider buying United? Not at the moment, no. They are in quite a big pickle as a business. They haven't got the manager selection right, haven't bought well. They have been the dumb money, which you see with players like Fred."
Some United fans feel betrayed by Ratcliffe as a fan of the club who has seen what the Glazers have done. This is especially the case after a number of protests against United's ownership in recent weeks.
Against Norwich, some United fans marched against the Glazer ownership and stayed outside the ground for 17 minutes. These protests continued against Chelsea on Thursday night.
However, in this situation, it is important to note that Ratcliffe is also a Chelsea fan. When he moved to London he got a Chelsea season ticket and held it for 30 years. He told the Daily Mirror in 2018: “I am a season ticket holder at Chelsea. Have been for years, although I’m a Manchester United fan really. Or was…. It’s not getting any better [at United]. It's gone from bad to catastrophic."
This hasn't stopped United fans from feeling betrayed. This is just a selection of the comments from Twitter.
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