The Glazer family refuses to sell Man United to a British billionaire
British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, owner of French clubs Nice and Lausanne, Switzerland, revealed that the American Glazer family, which in turn owns Manchester United, rejected his offer to buy the "Red Devils" club.
"If the club was up for sale in the summer, yes, we might have seized the opportunity after what happened with Chelsea, but we can't sit around waiting indefinitely until Manchester United are available," Ratcliffe said during today's Financial Times Live conference.
"Manchester United is the property of the Glazer family, which I met."
And he added, "I met Joel and Avram, they are two nice people, they don't want to sell. (The club) is owned by the father's six children (Malcolm died in 2014) and they don't want to sell."
Ratcliffe had also expressed his interest in buying Chelsea, which was put on the stock exchange after the British sanctions against Russian businessmen, including the owner of the "Blues" Roman Ibrahimovic, against the background of his country's invasion of its neighbor Ukraine.
Ratcliffe made an offer late, before winning the deal to buy an investment fund led by American businessman Todd Boehley.
Ratcliffe, owner of chemical group Ineos, which also owns a cycling team, has hoped to capitalize on public discontent against the Glazers after another disappointing season for United to be the club's redemption stage.
Despite his failure to buy the "Red Devils", Ratcliffe did not give in to the idea of acquiring one of the English clubs, stressing, "The most popular sport in the world is football and it is the sport closest to us, so we must have credit. We are not looking for a club in the Premier League, but About a great team.
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