Sir Jim Ratcliffe's future at Manchester United has become a big talking point after Saudi sports promoter Turki Alsheikh suggested a takeover bid for the club is at an "advanced stage".
Alsheikh, who continues to be linked with purchasing a football club in England, sent tongues wagging on Wednesday night as he made a cryptic claim about a potential new investor at Old Trafford.
Taking to social media platform X, he wrote: "The best news I heard today is that Manchester United is now in an advanced stage of completing a deal to sell to a new investor – I hope he’s better than the previous owners."
Whether there is substance to Alsheikh's comments remains to be seen, but his post has attracted a significant amount of attention, with questions being raised about Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazers as a result.
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Chris Blackhurst, the former editor of The Independent, who authored the book The World's Biggest Cash Machine, was asked if there was "any way he could see Ratcliffe walking away from United" as he appeared on Sky Sports.
"Well, he's got problems. Look, Jim Ratcliffe is a very, very successful businessman, probably one of the most successful that has ever been in Britain, no question," he began in the segment, as seen below.
"But INEOS, his main chemicals business, that's not doing well. His investments in sport, none of his sports investments have worked. Cycling, the rugby, the America's Cup, Tottenham. I mean, none of these things have paid off. Formula 1, none of it's worked.
"So, yes, I can (see him walking away). If he gets a lot of personal abuse and he has said, he gave that warning... there was a warning not that long ago saying 'if I if I get much more personal abuse I may walk away'.
"He can walk away," added Blackhurst.
Back in March, Ratcliffe said that he would walk away from the club if he gets "abused" by fans in the same way the Glazer family have.
"I mean, I can put up with it for a while," Ratcliffe said, as per the BBC. "I don't mind being unpopular because I get that nobody likes seeing Manchester United down where they are, and nobody likes the decisions we're having to make at the moment.
"If I draw a bit of the ire, I can put up with that. But I'm no different to the average person. It's not nice, particularly for friends and family.
"So, eventually, if it reached the extent that the Glazer family have been abused, then I'd have to say, look, enough's enough guys, let somebody else do this.
"They can't really come to a match, the Glazers. They've retreated into the shadows a bit now, so I'm getting all the stick.
"We bought in and I haven't seen them since. It's, 'thank you, Jim, you're doing a really good job'. At the moment, I don't have security, I don't have to walk around like that. But it would defeat the object, wouldn't it?
"You couldn't tolerate it at that level, it just wouldn't be fun."
SPORTbible have reached out to Manchester United and INEOS for comment.
Topics: Man Utd, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Premier League
Jack Kenmare