British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos company officially joined the race to buy Manchester United yesterday. United’s owners, the Glazer family, said they were willing to listen to offers for the Premier League club in November. Boyhood United fan Ratcliffe, who made an unsuccessful £4.25bn bid to buy Chelsea last year, has long been linked with the Old Trafford outfit.
“We have formally put ourselves into the process,” an Ineos spokesperson told the BBC. After failing with his Chelsea takeover after Roman Abramovich sold the Blues to American tycoon Todd Boehly and his consortium, Ratcliffe is back in the hunt for a Premier League giant. United have yet to comment on the news of the 70-year-old’s interest in taking over from the United States-based Glazers.
But, born in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, Ratcliffe is one of Britain’s richest men and might be more palatable to the United support than the Glazers, who have experienced numerous fan protests during their troubled reign since buying the club in 2005. United sit fourth in the table after beating arch rivals Manchester City 2-1 on Saturday.

Fan charged with assault on Arsenal keeper Ramsdale
A spectator has been charged with assaulting Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale following last weekend’s north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur, the Metropolitan Police said yesterday. Joseph Watts, 35, has been accused of assault by beating, going onto an area adjacent to the playing area and throwing a missile onto a football playing area at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium following Premier League leaders Arsenal’s 2-0 win.
Watts, of Hackney, north London, was charged and is due to appear at Highbury Magistrates’ Court on February 17. Following Sunday’s incident, England’s governing Football Association “strongly condemned” the incident, while Spurs insisted “violence in any form has no place in football”.