Sir Jim Ratcliffe expects the Premier League to ratify his decision to take over Manchester United's football operations in “mid-February”, as he spoke for the first time about his investment in the club ahead of Sunday's match against Tottenham.
Ratcliffe, 71, agreed to buy 25% of United from its American owners, the Glazer family, for £1.3bn, after lengthy negotiations which finally concluded with an announcement on Christmas Eve.
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The INEOS founder, who also owns French team Nice and Swiss team Lausanne, will form a three-person board of directors alongside Joel Glazer and INEOS sporting director Sir Dave Brailsford when the Premier League approves his investment.
Speaking to reporters at Old Trafford, Ratcliffe said the deal will not be finalized before the end of the January transfer window.
“Early to mid-February,” Ratcliffe said when asked when he expected the deal to be ratified.
“I hope we don't find anything dubious on my CV!
“This is the first game for me since we got here. I'm very excited to be here, but I can't really answer any questions.”
Asked how long he wanted to be involved with United, Ratcliffe said: “A few years. As you know, they have taken some turns, but these things take a bit of time.”
“When did I first come to a game? When I was a kid. Pretty young. Ten or something, it was 60 years ago.”
Ratcliffe was born in Failsworth, a suburb of Manchester, and grew up as a United fan before becoming Britain's richest man through his petrochemical company INEOS.
He said his favorite players go back to Sir Alex Ferguson's first great team in the 1990s.
“[Paul] Scholes, [Ryan] Giggs, Eric (Cantona) probably,” he said. “I can't come all the time [to games] because I have some other things. But I will come.”
