Man Utd co-owner Jim Ratcliffe ‘could sell shares in club’ with potential Saudi offers

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is willing to sell Nice with interest in the French club mounting from Saudi Arabia, which will leave the billionaire to focus on Manchester United

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is ready to sell his stake in Nice as his focus continues to centre on Manchester United. The INEOS chief bought into the French club six years ago but there is Saudi Arabian interest.

Ratcliffe has become a co-owner at Old Trafford in recent years, but that only added to his football portfolio having acquired Nice back in 2019 for £89million. Now though the British billionaire is ready to offload the French outfit, who sit fifth in Ligue 1.

Nice have been competitive in France without claiming any silverware and Ratcliffe is ready to move them on, reports French outlet L’Informe. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), who currently own Newcastle, are aware of Ratcliffe’s position and are considering an offer.

The United co-owner is not universally popular down by the Riviera and previously claimed that whilst Nice have good players, he doesn’t enjoy watching the standard of football on show.

He said: “I don’t particularly like going to see Nice because there are good players, but the level of football isn’t high enough for me to get excited. Nice’s best season was the one we weren’t allowed to get involved in due to timeshare rules. They were so much better without our interference! Maybe there’s a lesson to be learned from that.”

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Ratcliffe bought himself a 27.7 per cent stake in the Red Devils, which cost him £1.3bn in 2023. He’s assumed control of the club’s footballing operations but has been unable to lead the club in the right direction with a number of his decisions proving hugely unpopular.

Since taking post at Old Trafford Ratcliffe has chosen to relieve Sir Alex Ferguson of his paid ambassadorial role and has also hiked up ticket prices, riding of concession and child rates with protests being held. Several of his major appointments, including Dan Ashworth, have also not worked out.

Ratcliffe has only had to make one managerial change, choosing to axe Erik ten Hag and appoint Ruben Amorim. Thus far the move has failed to work out with the new manager taking the club backwards, but the billionaire has insisted that the Portuguese coach will be backed in the summer.

He said: “You know, you’re a young guy, you’ve come into the Premier League for the first time in your life, you’ve come in mid-season, it’s not your natural language. You have to give the guy a bit of a break. I mean, give me a hard time, I have no problem with that. But give Ruben a break. I think he’s a good guy; he’s working hard, and I think he’s doing a great job.”

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