Sir Jim Ratcliffe: I want to buy Manchester United | Will make a bid for the club [Telegraph]

Wibble

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I'm amazed at the level of inside information so many people have to be so definite about what is and isn't happening/possible. :)

Perhaps we should just wait and see what happens now that the Glazers seem to be open to a sale?
 

hp88

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Ratcliffe was never the one supposed to purchase it. It's INEOS, as an example Nice are owned by INEOS group not Ratcliffe.
We need an indiviual who has the buying power of some like INEOS, so someoe like Bezos, Musk etc..
 

Gazza

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I'm amazed at the level of inside information so many people have to be so definite about what is and isn't happening/possible. :)

Perhaps we should just wait and see what happens now that the Glazers seem to be open to a sale?
Yes, let's all head to the wait and see thread!
 

Gazza

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Or not pretend to know what is going on when they plainly have no idea. Either or.
Yeah but speculation is a kind of lifeblood of this forum (one of them anyway) and a thread of people just 'waiting and seeing' wouldn't be very interesting. I'll continue disregarding posts I see that seem speculative BS but there might be some interesting posts amongst the rest, there often is on the Caf. The cool thing about this place is that some people DO have insight and I'll be on the lookout for those posts for sure. :)
 

Rightnr

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Yes, let's all head to the wait and see thread!
If the guy was getting paid by the forum, he'd be effectively calling for his sack. Just weird.

Are we supposed to speculate with the local housewife knitting club or a forum full of United fans sick of these Glazer rats.
 

Gazza

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If the guy was getting paid by the forum, he'd be effectively calling for his sack. Just weird.

Are we supposed to speculate with the local housewife knitting club or a forum full of United fans sick of these Glazer rats.
Indeed, plus I can wait and see without having to log on to the Caf tbh :)
 

NinjaZombie

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There is perhaps one other conglomerate that I see as rich and fit enough to buy United, but a deal would only work if they are properly approached with an offer to build some kind of alliance between United and the other club they have: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) - owners of Urawa Red Diamonds and primary contractors to the Japanese government for over a century. MHI may not sound like a full-fledged oil state like the Qataris, Abu Dhabi or the Saudis, but that conglomerate is basically the Japanese government with all the riches going with it. Furthermore, their Japanese club is arguably one of the best clubs in the AFC Champions League (twice winners, once runners-ups, and a 4th final coming later in February). They know what it takes to make a football club successful.

As for SJR, he can go feck himself as the poser he is.
This is actually very interesting. More than the people who are suggesting Musk or Bezos.
 

RedDevilQuebecois

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This is actually very interesting. More than the people who are suggesting Musk or Bezos.
Indeed. I just don't get the cult of personality around one billionaire, especially with all the crap we have seen from both Musk and Bezos recently.

What matters the most to me is that any potential buying party has a solid experience in sports management, of which MHI do have. I know that some people might point out that Urawa are not that successful domestically compared to Kashima Antlers or Yokohama F. Marinos, but anyone who takes time to discover a little bit more about the J-League knows that it is a league where nothing is ever taken for granted. Other than experience in sports management, my other key criteria are financial power and closeness to a government as assets to counter oil money. That is how MHI came up on my radar.
 

NinjaZombie

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Indeed. I just don't get the cult of personality around one billionaire, especially with all the crap we have seen from both Musk and Bezos recently.

What matters the most to me is that any potential buying party has a solid experience in sports management, of which MHI do have. I know that some people might point out that Urawa are not that successful domestically compared to Kashima Antlers or Yokohama F. Marinos, but anyone who takes time to discover a little bit more about the J-League knows that it is a league where nothing is ever taken for granted. Other than experience in sports management, my other key criteria are financial power and closeness to a government as assets to counter oil money. That is how MHI came up on my radar.
Urawa Reds play in our colours as well. :lol:
 

Tarrou

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He's no intention of buying United. The Glazers don't want to sell was clearly pony. Loves the sound of his own voice that lad.
now I don’t particularly think he’s gonna buy it or anything, but this sort of statement doesn’t really indicate that he doesn’t want it

it’s just as likely the Glazers quoted him a price he doesn’t want to pay and this was just a bit of posturing to get them to cave

I mean, have you ever negotiated to buy anything? Generally the standard approach is to play it coy on how much you actually want it

but I think we’ll be bought by an oil nation, anyway.. it’s a lot of capital for him and I doubt the Glazers will drop to a price he’s willing to pay
 

GaryLifo

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:lol: You, Sir, have just made my morning. May your sense of humour be always with you.
And after a few days of nothing we could create a "the wait and see thread goes into meltdown" thread and post quotes such as


"Well feck this, I no longer want to wait and see, I'm off to the speculation thread"
 

Hanky panky

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Is he rich enough if it goes to bidding war? And is he rich enough that doesnt need to care about few hundred million or even one billion losses inside few years? I guess not. Dubai more likely option.
 

Tarrou

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Is he rich enough if it goes to bidding war? And is he rich enough that doesnt need to care about few hundred million or even one billion losses inside few years? I guess not. Dubai more likely option.
self made billionaires are rarely of that mindset, they always want to get value and win in deals

so my guess would be no he isn’t gonna approach this with a feck it sort of attitude
 

kaku06

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Heard a couple of weeks ago that my missus and Scarlett Johansson had come to an agreement that I get a free pass for one night to rail ScarJo. This was met by a flat denial from both parties, including an extension on the existing restraining order and a sharp kick to the balls.
You got a lot of marriage jokes in which I have noticed you are always suffering. Free this man bird from the cage right now.
 

phelans shorts

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self made billionaires are rarely of that mindset, they always want to get value and win in deals

so my guess would be no he isn’t gonna approach this with a feck it sort of attitude
Well it depends, some get to their 70’s and start to spend the bulk of the cash, because it’s not like they get to keep it when they’re done. It depends on the kind of inheritance he plans to leave, which nobody on the outside will know
 

duffer

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At best he might head up a consortium but he won't go in alone.

He tried to bid for Chelsea after a widely known deadline had passed and got rejected so I'm not convinced he's serious about actually putting his money where his mouth is.

You guys deserve way better than this attention seeker.
 

UnitedSofa

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Ratcliffe would be a bigger disaster than the glazers.
That’s some statement :wenger:
At best he might head up a consortium but he won't go in alone.

He tried to bid for Chelsea after a widely known deadline had passed and got rejected so I'm not convinced he's serious about actually putting his money where his mouth is.
You guys deserve way better than this attention seeker.


We do not want Ratcliffe - we’d be calling for the Glazers back before long…..

This is what i found on Reddit about his ownership of French club and it does not make a good reading.
This is what a French flair on r/soccer said last time the Ratcliffe news popped up.

You should look at what they are doing with the football club they currently own. Their methods may work in lesser sports, but they have zero knowledge about football and they lack the humility to realize it.

Brailsford has apparently taken a liking to being a sporting director, but he's completely out of his depth and it shows in Nice.

And another comment

Every interview with sports directors who've left the team is the same retelling of how Brailsford (the baldy) hires smart people with huge wads of money, those people make smart decisions, then Dave gets into one of his nervous panics, decides he knows better demands they do everything differently and things fall apart

But at least in football there's no doping questions to literally run away from, like he did with that journalist in 2015

This is a comment about another club he/INEOS owns.

He (or rather his company INEOS) also own Swiss side Lausanne Sport and they're absolutely shit now. They've basically been (ab)used as a loan farm for OGC Nice players. They had absolutely no strategic vision for the club. They've transformed more and more into a plastic club without any true identity. Last season they got relegated despite some fairly hefty investments made by INEOS over the years. It's quite surprising given that other clubs manage to stay in the Swiss top flight despite far lower budgets
 

Hanky panky

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self made billionaires are rarely of that mindset, they always want to get value and win in deals

so my guess would be no he isn’t gonna approach this with a feck it sort of attitude
Yep. Don't think it will be Ratcliffe. I put my money for Dubai.
 

Solius

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He isn't very NICE, get it?

Will he pump money into the club that's my big question, I want an owner that pumps in some extra capital, I'd much rather Dubai
At least he’s not a gulf state. We don’t need money, we need somebody who cares about the club and allows us to spend our own money well without taking it out.
 

TheNewEra

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At least he’s not a gulf state. We don’t need money, we need somebody who cares about the club and allows us to spend our own money well without taking it out.
I'm not sure what Jim will do, but I guess its speculation because we truly don't know, the question is, is Jim the right person? based on his other clubs, maybe not.
 

Pexbo

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He will make a bid he knows will never win. He never expected it to get this far and I don’t think he really wants to own it.
 

Solius

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I'm not sure what Jim will do, but I guess its speculation because we truly don't know, the question is, is Jim the right person? based on his other clubs, maybe not.
If he literally just takes us over and does nothing more he’ll be way better than the current owners.