Sir Jim Ratcliffe suffers BLOW in battle for Manchester United takeover

British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been battling Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani for the ownership position at Manchester United over the last months.

There have been developments in recent weeks, after the Qatari offer was increased in a fifth and final bid, and it looks like a conclusion is closing in.

Ratcliffe, 73, is currently part of the ownership at Ligue 1 side OGC Nice but wants to purchase the Old Trafford club from the Glazer family.

Although his transaction would see the Americans remain at the club with lower stakes for a number of years before he would buy their remaining shares in the coming years. The Qatari bid, in contrast, is for 100 per cent of the club.

However, latest reports from Nice-Matin, transcribed by SolamenNissa, says that INOES and Ratcliffe have suffered a “loss of confidence” in the takeover race for United.

This follows recent reports from Reuters stated that United were negotiating exclusivity for Sheikh Jassim’s group. Reports elsewhere have stated this is not the case and there will be no exclusivity granted in the process.

It has also been added by various reports that the “approval process” could take an extra eight to 12 weeks to be complete after the Glazers choose a preferred bidder. The Premier League’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test would also need to be completed.

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The Glazers took control of United in 2005 after completing a highly leveraged takeover, which dumped huge amounts of debt onto the club that remains there 18 years later.

That strategy has finally been banned from Premier League takeovers after the latest league-wide meeting earlier this month. Previous comments from the former Premier League Chief Executive have emerged, where he stated the debt was not “out of ratio” when the Glazers took over.