Watch: Jim Ratcliffe explains why he’s bid for Chelsea & not Man Utd

Manchester United fan Sir Jim Ratcliffe has revealed why he hasn’t made the Glazer family an offer to buy the Red Devils.

Ratcliffe, who owns French outfit Nice and is the chairman of chemical behemoths INEOS, has been named by Forbes as Britain’s richest man.

The 69-year-old was born in Failsworth in Greater Manchester and has often been tipped to take over from the Glazers at Old Trafford.

“I was at the Champions League final in 1999, when we won at the last minute against Bayern Munich,” he told L’Equipe in 2019.

“This is my most extraordinary football memory, we should never have won before these three crazy minutes.”

Despite being a United fan, Ratcliffe became a season ticket holder at Chelsea after moving to London. He’s now tabled a late £4.25billion bid to buy Chelsea following Roman Abramovich’s decision to sell the club.

The billionaire has since been told by Raine Group that his offer has been rejected and the Todd Boehly-led consortium are the favourites to take ownership of the club

Ratcliffe’s bid has still infuriated members of the Old Trafford faithful, who continued to protest against their owners during the 3-0 win over Brentford.

However, in an interview with the BBC, Ratcliffe admitted that he hasn’t made a bid for United as the Glazers haven’t put them up for sale.

“You know, I have a split allegiance, effectively, really,” he said. “When I was in London for many many years, Chelsea I could go and watch, it was quite difficult to go and watch United. Yes, I mean, I can understand that [the calls for him to buy United] but Manchester United is not for sale.”

Jim Ratcliffe: "Yes, I can understand that [people thinking he should buy #mufc as he is a fan], but Manchester United is not for sale."