Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s OGC Nice in Ligue 1 title race amid Manchester United takeover bid

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s OGC Nice have enjoyed an unbeaten start to their Ligue 1 campaign this season as their owner pushes to buy Manchester United.

The French outfit have won four and drawn the rest to find themselves only a point from the top going into the second international break of the term. AS Monaco lead the way despite losing a game having won one more match than Nice.

The club finished a disappointing ninth last season and thus are not playing European football this time around. Ratcliffe dismissed Lucien Favre as head coach in January with Francesco Farioli coming in on a two-year deal in June.

READ MORE: Gary Neville highlights why Onana 'stability' problem

READ MORE: 'Alphonso Davies replies to criticism from Erik ten Hag

He has managed to turn the ship around so far to cool a storm that saw fan boycotts and players hit out at the ownership last season. Club captain Dante spoke out about the lack of direction from INEOS back in May.

He said: “Do you remember how many players came in at the end of the transfer window last summer? Six left, six arrived. It's difficult in these conditions. Simply, we mustn't make the same errors.

"If someone wants my opinion, the earlier we organise ourselves, the better it will be. If we want to aim higher, we have to anticipate things and put the values of the organisation in place… There is a lack of coherence somewhere. I am sorry to say that."

Dante, 39, remains at the club and has played every single minute so far this season, helping to keep five clean sheets in eight matches. In fact, the defence has conceded just four times and have yet to ship a goal in three outings.

Meanwhile, Ratcliffe continues to pursue a takeover of United. The British billionaire recently