Sir Jim Ratcliffe missed the chance to meet Manchester United owner Avram Glazer at Wembley amid his ongoing takeover attempt for the club.
The INEOS owner is one of at least two parties who have confirmed their interest in buying the Old Trafford outfit after the Glazers signalled their intentions to sell last November. He faces competition from Qatari Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani although it remains to be seen how far each of their respective takeover bids have progressed.
Ratcliffe appeared to have a golden chance to hold face to face talks with Avram Glazer at Wembley as United took on Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final. The American was in attendance during the match.
However, Ratcliffe himself was not at the game, having elected to instead fly to France to watch Monaco’s showdown with rivals Nice - a club currently under the ownership of the UK’s richest man - at the Stade Louis II. Whilst Ratcliffe was not at Wembley, Glazer did meet iconic Red Devils’ boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
The pair were pictured together in the stands ahead of the match although it remains to be seen whether they exchanged words. Interestingly, Michael Knighton, who was on the cusp of buying United for just £20milion in 1989, previously called on Sir Alex to attempt to get the Glazers out of Old Trafford.
Speaking to Mirror Sport last August, he said: “I call out Sir Alex Ferguson and I call out David Gill. I also call out Michael Edelsen, who was a director when I spent three years on the United board, and chairman Martin Edwards used the blueprint I put forward to begin the transformation of the club into the powerhouse it became.
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“Ferguson, Gill and Edelsen still work alongside the Glazers. How can they stand by and allow the wilful destruction of Manchester United to continue? Sir Alex and David Gill could have stopped the Glazers in their tracks before the takeover happened.
“For reasons only they know, they didn’t. But now they have to act. Ferguson only has to look at where the team are in relation to (Manchester) City and Liverpool. Look at Old Trafford. One of the most iconic stadiums in the world, in such a state of disrepair that it’s an embarrassment.”
Ratcliffe has already confirmed his intentions for the Red Devils should he come the club’s new owner. In a statement announcing his majority takeover bid, he confirmed that he would be attempting to re-establish the Red Devils at the peak of European football, whilst also green-lighting a “fan-centred approach to ownership”.
