Sir Jim Ratcliffe might have used the publicity of his failed very late bid to buy Chelsea to broadcast that he is ready and willing to buy Manchester United, according to the Independent.
The Chelsea sale sage is close to reaching a conclusion after the consortium led by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly signed a purchase agreement to buy the club.
Boehly, who attended Chelsea home games in the last weeks, has also had meetings with the players and Thomas Tuchel.
The Independent, via their newsletter, claims that the need for legally-legally binding assurances from Roman Abramovich that he will not seek to recoup the £1.6billion Chelsea owed to him is the core problem at the moment.
Abramovich has previously reiterated that he will donate the net proceeds to charity, so there should not be any serious concern over the expected deal.
What is even more interesting, however, is that the report also mentioned Ratflcliff’s unusually calm reaction to potentially losing the bid despite their late effort.
Many in the industry reportedly believe that Ratcliffe was not too bothered with the failed bid at all.
Instead, the report added that there is a feeling that the British businessman’s late bid was an attempt to indirectly show Manchester United’s owners, the Glazers, his readiness to acquire a top football club.
In other words, Ratcliffe has shown that he has the funds to make an offer if Glazers decides to sell Manchester United.
Obviously, Ratcliffe had previously tried to buy Chelsea in 2019 only to be turned down by Abramovich, so he might have been genuinely interested in owning the west London club this time as well.
Considering the need for a change of ownership by the end of this month at Chelsea, it is easy to see why Ratcliffe was not chosen as the preferred bidder.
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