The Sir Jim Ratcliffe era has now officially begun. And it’s only a matter of time until Ratcliffe and INEOS get their man to reshape the roster, Dan Ashworth. We covered the backstory of and the approach for (the now former) Newcastle United front office man on Monday, over at this link.
But first, let’s get into Ratcliffe. The 71-year-old man bought 25% of the club in a deal worth £1.03 billion ($1.3bn).
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Kick off: 3pm, Saturday Feb. 24, Old Trafford, Manchester, UK
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According to ESPN: “Shares issued in return for Ratcliffe’s initial investment of £158.47 million ($200m) will take his total shareholding to 27.7%. A further £79.23m ($100m) will be invested by Dec. 31, increasing Ratcliffe’s stake to 28.9%.
And the INEOS chairman released a statement via the club, yesterday. It read:
To become co-owner of Manchester United is a great honour and comes with great responsibility.
This marks the completion of the transaction, but just the beginning of our journey to take Manchester United back to the top of English, European and world football, with world-class facilities for our fans.
“Work to achieve those objectives will accelerate from today.”
Now shifting gears to Ashworth, the only man that Ratcliffe and INEOS want to be their football director, get ready for an ugly, tedious, protracted transfer saga. United are absolutely baffled by £20 million price tag that Newcastle have set for him. The two sides will inevitably settle for a smaller figure.
The same thing happened in 2022 when Newcastle procured Ashworth from Brighton & Hove Albion. Brighton wanted £5m for him, but eventually settled for a smaller sum. The Manchester Evening News has more, over at this link.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter.