Sir Jim Ratcliffe has poured more money into Manchester United to increase his stake in the club.
Ratcliffe acquired 27.7% of the club earlier this year in a deal worth around £1.2bn, but the club’s official financial documents show the INEOS boss has invested an additional £79m to the club and has increased its stake to 28.94% in the process.
The shares, which were initially held in Ratcliffe’s name following the initial acquisition, have all been transferred to his company INEOS, formalizing United’s place in the multiclub portfolio of the group which also includes the French Nice and the Swiss Lausanne-Sport.
There will be no problems when it comes to this united and Nice face the same European competition as INEOS claim they only own 17% of the French outfit, meaning neither INEOS nor Ratcliffe legally have a controlling influence over Nice, meeting UEFA’s multi-club rules.
While the timing of Ratcliffe’s latest investment in United may spark excitement ahead of the January transfer window, the funds are unlikely to be used to buy new players and will instead contribute to business costs between racks
Leave the new coach Ruben Amorim operates on a smaller budget than his predecessor Erik ten Hag, with Ratcliffe willing to end high turnover windows and instead relying on Amorim to improve the players he currently has at his disposal.
The boss’s budget could be increased by the sales of any player and all eyes are on future Marcus Rashford, recently admitting his desire to seek a new challenge gave a mixed response from Amorim.
