British businessman and Manchester United fan Sir Jim Ratcliffe has warned that he is not willing to pay a “stupid price” for the club, following his publicised offer to purchase it from the Glazer family.
While the Glazers are believed to be holding out for an offer of around £6 billion and have encouraged bidders to raise their proposals, Ratcliffe has cautioned that he will not pay an astronomical price for the club.
“How do you decide the price of a painting? How do you decide the price of a house? It’s not related to how much it cost to build or how much it cost to paint,” Ratcliffe told the Wall Street Journal.
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“What you don’t want to do is pay stupid prices for things because then you regret it subsequently,” Ratcliffe said, adding that he believes his view of United should be more of a “community asset”.
He also stressed that his interest in the club would be “purely in winning things”.
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Ratcliffe is one of two bidders who have publicly declared their offers to purchase the club, alongside Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, although numerous other proposals are believed to have been submitted behind the scenes.
Raine, the group managing the sale, has set a deadline of Wednesday evening for the next round of bids, with at least four expected and possibly up to eight.
The Glazers have reportedly been informed by American group Elliott, the former owners of AC Milan, that they would be willing to invest in the Glazers to keep them at Old Trafford. Elliott has offered funding for potential United owners and has clarified that its offer extends to prospective bidders as well as the Glazers.
It remains to be seen whether the Glazers will stand firm on their £6 billion valuation, or whether they will consider alternative offers.
