After a desperate performance in the transfer market, Manchester United could be in for a top move after all. According to Bloomberg, the Glazer family is considering selling a minority stake, to which the richest Briton with a desire to own a football club immediately responded. In addition, fans can enjoy a brave attempt on the beloved João Félix. Will Atlético talent replace departing star Cristiano Ronaldo?
As coach Erik ten Hag called for reinforcements after a terrible start to the new season, legendary defender Gary Neville called for change at the highest level. And his repeated calls may be the truth.
This Wednesday, the richest man on the planet, Elon Musk, joked about his interest in United, but later Jim Ratcliffe rushed in with a serious proposal with a bag full of money. The Glazer family, which has owned the famous English club since 2005, is said to be open to talks about selling a minority stake.
“This is the best news United fans have received in a while. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster for them this summer,” Scottish journalist Jonathan Northcroft commented on the information.
The Glazers do not want to get rid of the club, their plan is only to bring investments to it. And Ratcliffe can no doubt provide an interesting financial injection. His fortune is worth about 12 billion pounds (about 348 billion crowns) and he owns the fourth largest chemical engineering company in the world.
Ratcliffe is also the owner of the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team and Ligue 1 football clubs Nice and Lausanne of Switzerland. He also recently sought to take over Chelsea from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
His desire is to own a football club in England. “If Manchester United were for sale, Jim would certainly be a potential buyer,” said a spokesman for the current richest Briton.
However, according to Sky Sports, the piquancy is that the 69-year-old Ratcliffe owns a season ticket for Chelsea, one of United’s rivals. On the other hand, he is from Manchester and grew up a fan with an Old Trafford heart.
An attempt on a “very important” player
But regardless of the arrival of the new investor, Ten Hag needs immediate help on the pitch. His team found themselves in last place in the league table after humiliating defeats against Brighton (1:2) and Brentford (0:4).
The six goals conceded after the opening two rounds, but only one scored, is something to think about. Cristiano Ronaldo is still quiet, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho have yet to follow up with goals from summer training.
United’s jammed rifle could be filled with Portuguese talent João Felix, whom Atlético has pampered under Diego Simeone since the summer of 2019. They then bought him from Benfica in worth 113 million pounds (about 3.2 billion crowns). According to foreign media, representatives of the English club sent a lucrative offer of 130 million euros (about 3.25 billion crowns) to Madrid.
Result? The Spanish don’t want to talk about it. Proof of this is Felix’s photo on the club’s twitter with a clear message: “Invaluable.” But the world of football has shown many times that everything has its price.
United finally got going after being passive in the market. But for now, they are just exploring the possibilities. They look at Felix’s attacking partner Alvaro Morata, Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic, Stuttgart’s Saša Kalajdžić or they go back to Brazilian Antony from Ajax. They previously backed out of him because of the high price – between 80 and 100 million euros (up to 2.5 billion crowns). There is an agreement with midfielder Casemir from Real Madrid.
They also need to resolve Cristiano Ronaldo’s lingering changes at Old Trafford as soon as possible. Since his statement that he wants to leave United, his future has been constantly discussed in the media. At the moment, opinions are growing that he could return to Sporting Lisbon. But it’s free.
The star Portugal international hit out at the press for all the speculation this week, saying they were lies. “I have a laptop and in recent months, out of a hundred reports, only five are true,” Ronaldo declared. “In a few weeks, you will know the truth.”
He may have silenced a few people with this post, but Gary Neville certainly wasn’t one of them. “Why does the greatest player of all time (in my opinion) have to wait two weeks to tell Manchester United fans the truth? Now stand up and speak. The club is in crisis and needs leaders to lead it . He is the only one who can handle this situation!” he wrote on Twitter.
Who will really pull Manchester United off the precipice they fell into at the start of the new year?
