Who is he talking about? Sir Jim Ratcliffe makes Man Utd ‘failure’ comment as Glazer family allow £6 billion takeover saga to drag on

Ratcliffe – who is Britain’s richest man – had hoped to be in the Old Trafford boardroom by now having played a prominent role throughout long-running efforts to remove the Glazer family from power. He has so far been unsuccessful, along with fellow bidder Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, with no change of ownership agreed as yet.

There have been suggestions that the Glazers, who invited offers back in November 2022, may take United off the market and remain in their current posts. That would be an unpopular decision among a disgruntled fanbase that has wanted to see the Americans pack their bags for some time.

United have enjoyed success under their current owners, with a six-year wait for major silverware brought to an end in the Carabao Cup last season, but questions have always been asked of how much is being spent in the transfer market and why debt continues to be lumped onto the club. Ratcliffe seems to be of the opinion that the Glazers have failed during their tenure, telling the INEOS YouTube channel when asked what a regime under his guidance would be like: “You can't really contemplate acquiring a brand like Manchester United and failing because the failure is just far too public and excruciating in a deal like that.”

Ratcliffe has been unable to satisfy the Glazers’ demands when it comes to a takeover, but he has learned plenty from another bid for power after previously making a play for Chelsea and already acquiring Laussane-Sport and OGC Nice in Switzerland and France respectively. He added: "The Manchester United bid would have been unthinkable two or three years ago if we hadn't had some of the experiences - some quite difficult experiences with Laussane and Nice.”