In brief

Sir Jim Ratcliffe at Manchester United, what becomes of OGC Nice?

Jim-Ratcliffe
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is set to become a minority shareholder in Manchester United (Photo © Ineos Group)

The Ineos boss and owner of the French Riviera club is set to buy a 25% stake in the Red Devils in the near future, but he will not be pulling out of OGC Nice. 

This should, finally, be the last episode in the long soap opera surrounding the takeover of Manchester United. After lengthy negotiations, initially with the aim of a full takeover of the club, in competition with Qatar, Sir Jim Ratcliffe finally seems to be settling for a partial buyout.

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After the withdrawal of the Qatari bid, the road seems clear for the British billionaire. According to Reuters, the Monaco resident would not initially become a majority shareholder in the Mancunian club, but a minority shareholder with a 25% stake, representing a total investment of €1.4 million.

Making OGC Nice financially viable

The question now is what will happen next for OGC Nice. Owned by Jim Ratcliffe since 2019, the Nice club has made a fresh start in recent months with the arrivals of Fabrice Bocquet (managing director) and Florent Ghisolfi (sports director). The plan is clear: to make OGC Nice a viable club, without spending lavishly.

Nobody at the current second-placed club in Ligue 1 is suggesting that OGC Nice would become a mere satellite club of Manchester United. It is felt that a cohabitation of the two clubs would not impact the French side, which would belong to a joint venture, an increasingly frequent situation that is already the case for Football Club Lausanne-Sport.