Sir Jim Ratcliffe has already described Joel and Avram Glazer as "the nicest people" and "proper gentlemen" ahead of his hotly-anticipated bid to buy Manchester United.
The English chemical mogul and boyhood United fan has officially declared his interest in purchasing the club after the Glazers - who're believed to be holding out for a £5billion sale - confirmed in November that they were open to offers and actively "exploring strategic alternatives". Ratcliffe, 70, put himself in the running this week ahead of the reported mid-February deadline for proposals.
Considered Britain's richest man and backed by fans during heated protests earlier this season, the chief executive of chemical giant INEOS has met brothers Joel and Avram. The revelation came shortly after Ratcliffe had considered purchasing Premier League rivals Chelsea, a club he has "split allegiance" with, before Todd Boehly's consortium bought the Blues for £4.25bn.
"Manchester United is owned by the Glazer family, whom I have met," the Lancashire-born businessman revealed in October, speaking at an event hosted by the Financial Times. "I've met Joel and Avram and they are the nicest people, I have to say, they are proper gentlemen.
"If it had been for sale in the summer then, yes, we would have probably had a go following on from the Chelsea thing. But we can't sit around hoping that one day Manchester United will become available. We have an exciting sporting franchise, but the one thing that we don't have is a Premier League team."
Ratcliffe, who is estimated to be worth a whopping £12.5bn, was referencing INEOS' other sporting endeavours, including owning French club Nice and being the principal partner of Formula One team Mercedes-AMG Petronas. With an annual turnover of over £52bn, INEOS hope to capitalise on the Glazers' opening. The American tycoons' father, Malcolm, bought United for £790million in 2005.
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Ratcliffe has previously critiqued the Glazers' running of things at Old Trafford since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped away as manager nearly a decade ago, claiming in 2019 that club chiefs had "lost the plot". "They haven't got the manager selection right, haven't bought well," the 70-year-old scathingly told The Times of the United hierarchy. "They have been the dumb money, which you see with players like Fred.
"United have spent an immense amount since Ferguson left and been poor, to put it mildly. Shockingly poor, to be honest. We have a different approach here to be moderately intelligent about it. Try to do it more grassroots, trying to locate young talent. Some clubs seem to have an ability to do that, Southampton, Lille. United have done it really poorly. They have lost the plot."
