Manchester United fans are growing irritated after reports emerged of the Glazer family pushing back the vote to hand over 25 percent of the club to Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The British billionaire and his INEOS group who also own French club OGC Nice and Swiss club FC Lausanne-Sport have offered to pay £1.4 billion to take charge of Manchester United’s sporting area. This is a minority stake in the whole club but it will allow Sir Ratcliffe and his team to be in direct charge of the club’s sporting activities.
The fans of the club have long bemoaned how the Glazer family, owners of the club since 2005, have run the sporting area. Manchester United are now a shadow of themselves, having won two trophies in seven years after a history of dominating English football. They have also been unlucky in the transfer department, failing to land their targets and failing to make any returns from the players they let go.
Fans were looking forward to seeing Sir Ratcliffe and his INEOS Group take charge of the club’s January transfer window. The 75-year-old business mogul has shown that he is adept at sports management, as he plays a hands-on role in the affairs of the two clubs under his wing. The fulfilment of that wish will now be delayed and could be denied, according to the latest reports.
Like every other major business dealings, stakeholders have to be consulted and votes have to be taken. Reports indicated that the vote to seal the deal with Sir Jim Ratcliffe was expected on Thursday after his bid emerged as the outright winner. Reports from Tuesday now indicate that the vote has been pushed further back, which could also put the bid in jeopardy.
According to The Telegraph, Sir Ratcliffe and his INEOS Group will now have to wait for a while longer as the Glazers and the club’s board have some issues to iron out. The reason given is that Sir Ratcliffe’s bid to completely take over the club’s sporting area could affect some other operations within the club and the details of his takeover need to be ironed out.
One of such details is the future of chief executive officer Richard Arnold and the future of the club’s director of football John Murtough. Sir Ratcliffe will bring in his own people from INEOS hwo have handled his other clubs once the takeover is complete, which could put both Arnold’s and Murtough’s jobs at risk.
The fear among Manchester United fans is that like Sheikh Jassim, Sir Ratcliffe could totally pull out of the bid. A new date for the vote will be announced in the coming days, per reports.
