Britainâs richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe has outlined the reasons why he wonât buy Manchester United as he believes the club have âlost the plotâ after poor investments on both players and managers.
The 67-year-old, who had grown up supporting the Old Trafford outfit, is worth a reported ÂŁ20billion through his company Ineos and had invested part of his wealth in Ligue 1 side Nice in August.
He had also reportedly weighed up the possibility of taking over the likes of Chelsea, Newcastle and Leeds.
But Ratcliffe has revealed he would not be interested in securing United from the Glazer family, believing the deal would not represent good business sense.
He told The Times: âThey are in quite a big pickle as a business.
âThey havenât got the manager selection right, havenât bought well. They have been the dumb money, which you see with players like Fred.
âWe wonât look elsewhere until we have had a good run here (at Nice). We need to find out how to be successful before you ever want to write a big cheque. Itâs quite difficult.â
Ratcliffe also hit out at the clubâs irresponsible transfer investments since Sir Alex Fergusonâs retirement in 2013, and compared Unitedâs contrasting approach to the current set-up at Nice.
He added: âUnited have spent an immense amount since Ferguson left and been poor, to put it mildly. Shockingly poor, to be honest.
âWe have a different approach here (at Nice) to be moderately intelligent about it. Try to do it more grassroots, trying to locate young talent.
âSome clubs seem to have an ability to do that, Southampton, Lille. United have done it really poorly. They have lost the plot there somehow.â
Lanre News | Latest News in Nigeria | Africa | Around the World.