Man Utd co-owner Ratcliffe puts club up ‘for sale’ as asking price revealed amid ‘imminent clarity’

According to reports, Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has put OGC Nice up ‘for sale’ and has already settled on an asking price.

Ratcliffe, 72, purchased the Ligue Un outfit in 2019, though the British billionaire was never planning to stop there as he had eyes on the Premier League.

Ratcliffe was in the race to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich and had a £4.25bn bid rejected before Todd Boehly’s consortium purchased the club.

Then, Ratcliffe’s attention turned to Man Utd as he made a play to become the club’s owner after they were put on the market by the Glazer family.

A prolonged takeover race concluded at the end of 2023 as Ratcliffe purchased a 25% stake in Man Utd to become a co-owner alongside the Glazer family.

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As part of this deal, Ratcliffe took control of footballing matters at Old Trafford and has subsequently increased his stake via further investment.

Ratcliffe’s purchase of Man Utd has been to the detriment of Nice, who have largely been ignored by the INEOS chief in recent years as he focuses on rebuilding the Premier League giants.

This has angered Nice supporters and it has now emerged that Ratcliffe is looking to cut ties with the French side.

A report from French outlet Ici claims INEOS are ‘expected to speak out in the coming days to clarify its position’ and ‘set the course for the future.’

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It is noted that a clear update is due ‘imminently’, with the Nice ‘project quickly buried after the Manchester United takeover, which relegated the club far down his list of priorities’.

Regarding Ratcliffe’s sale stance, the report claims:

‘Today, the Gym [Nice] is for sale, albeit unofficially, to whoever is willing to put €200 million on the table.’

This is a big day for Ratcliffe as it’s already emerged that the club are scheduled to publish their annual accounts on Wednesday.

Ratcliffe infamously claimed in March that Man Utd were at risk of running out of money by the end of this year.

He said: “In super-simple terms, the club has been spending more money than it’s been earning now for the last seven years, and it ends in a very difficult place.

“And for Manchester United, that place ended at the end of this year, the end of 2025, with the club running out of cash.”