British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe's comments on Manchester United midfielder Fred have re-emerged.
Ratcliffe is keen to speak to the club's American owners, the Glazer family, about purchasing a stake in United according to a spokesperson for the Ineos founder.
The Times claim Ratcliffe has a net worth of $13 billion and he's willing to discuss a minority holding with the Glazers, with a view to a full takeover in the future.
Advert
Back in 2019, Ratcliffe was asked about the state of United and he took aim at their managerial appointments as well as Fred.
The Brazil international joined United from Shakhtar Donetsk in a £50 million deal in 2018 and those first few years in England were a struggle.
Fred couldn't nail dow a position in the starting XI under Jose Mourinho and it wasn't until Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's second season he started to turn opinion.
Ratcliffe told the Times in 2019: "[Ineos] never wants to be the dumb money in town, never.
"They [United] are in quite a big pickle as a business.
"They haven’t got the manager selection right, haven’t bought well. They have been the dumb money, which you see with players like Fred.
"United have spent an immense amount since [Sir Alex] Ferguson left and been poor, to put it mildly. Shockingly poor, to be honest.
"We have a different approach here to be moderately intelligent about it. Try to do it more grass roots, trying to locate young talent.
"Some clubs seem to have an ability to do that, Southampton, Lille. United have done it really poorly. They have lost the plot."
It's believed the Glazers would command a fee of around $6 billion to sell United.
The most expensive sale of a club came in May this year, when Todd Boehly purchased Chelsea from Roman Abramovich for a whopping $5.2 billion.
United are currently bottom of the Premier League after losing their opening two games of the campaign to Brighton and Brentford.
New manager Erik ten Hag has signed just three players so far and United appear to be offering anyone and anything that moves a big-money deal.
In the last 48 hours, they've ended their pursuit of Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot and turned their attention to Real Madrid stalwart Casemiro. They're set to make a fresh bid for Ajax winger Antony too.
Topics: Manchester United, Fred, Premier League
Daniel Marland