‘Can’t go anywhere near that!’ - Why golf superstar Rory McIlroy snubbed investment in Leeds as Ryder Cup winner holds out for ‘0.0001% share’ in Man Utd

The Northern Irishman, who recently helped Europe to Ryder Cup glory in another epic clash with the United States, is an avid follower of the Red Devils. As a result, he could not bring himself to join fellow golfing superstars Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas in forming part of the £170 million ($207m) takeover of Leeds by the 49ers Enterprises group.

BBC Sport report McIlroy as saying: “They asked me if I wanted to come on board and I was like, as a Man Utd fan, can't go anywhere near that.”

While steering clear of the United outfit in Leeds, McIlroy would like to get involved with the one in Manchester – with the Glazer family having opened themselves up to offers that now see Sir Jim Ratcliffe leading the race to acquire a 25 per cent stake in the club. McIlroy added: “I would love to have taken a 0.0001% share. If another opportunity comes my way I will definitely look at it. To be able to own even a tiny, tiny, tiny percentage of the club you grew up cheering on would be very cool.”

McIlroy is not involved in football just yet, but he is one of the investors – alongside the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Trent Alexander-Arnold – in the Alpine Formula 1 team. He has said of joining that group: “It's a great opportunity, I've always been a big fan of F1. There has been quite a bit of Northern Irish/Irish connection there with Eddie Jordan and Eddie Irvine back in the day. It's always been something I followed. And then when this opportunity came up, I just think with the popularity of F1, how much it's booming in the US in particular - and I have invested in a few things - but this has got more of a story and a journey. It's no surprise they went to market and got some investors in but I think it obviously stabilises the team and it gives them some confidence going forward. F1 as a whole they do it so well. Golf could learn quite a bit from F1 in terms of some of the set-up stuff and how they do things.”