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Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is supposedly interested in buying a stake in Manchester United, criticized the Red Devils in a 2019 interview, accusing them of spending “dumb money” on Fred.
Ratcliffe is one of the richest men in the world and is a lifelong Manchester United supporter. In a recent interview, his spokesperson revealed that the billionaire would be interested in purchasing the club if the club’s current owners, the Glazers family, sought to sell it.
The businessman might not have many fans in the Glazers family, courtesy of an old interview where he openly criticized their way of doing business. In a 2019 interview with the Times, Ratcliffe claimed that the Manchester United owners didn’t know what they were doing, slamming them for splurging on 29-year-old midfielder Fred in 2018.
He had said (via the Daily Star):
“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 [spending] dumb money, which you see with players like Fred.”
The Mancunians signed the Brazilian midfielder Fred for a reported fee of around £47 million from Shakhtar Donetsk. He has unfortunately failed to justify his mammoth price tag, often playing a part in the Red Devils’ misfortunes. The Brazil international has thus far played 159 games for the Old Trafford unit across competitions, recording eight goals and 13 assists.
Potential Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe made an eye-watering offer to take over rival club
A lifelong football fanatic, Sir Jim Ratcliffe is a season ticket holder at Chelsea and tried to take over the club from Roman Abramovich earlier this year. The Oldham-born billionaire has a net worth of £22 billion and reportedly made a £4.25 billion bid to take control of the Blues.
Having submitted a massive offer, Ratcliffe claimed that he solely intended to form a formidable football club in London and didn't have a profit in mind. He said:
“We put an offer in this morning. We are the only British bid. Our motives are simply to try and create a very fine club in London. We have no profit motive because we make our money in other ways.”
Ratcliffe’s bid was unsuccessful as the Todd Boehly-led consortium ended up becoming the new owners of Chelsea. It will be interesting to see if he manages to have his way at United.
