Premier League trembles, Ratcliffe's millions to win back the title

Manchester United have made it official that Sir Jim Ratcliffe, owner and founder of INEOS, has acquired 25% of their shares in a deal that had been in the pipeline since September this year, when Qatar's Sheikh Jassim Hamad Al Thani broke off negotiations with the Glazer family to take over Old Trafford.

Ratcliffe will be in charge of the entire sporting project of the institution, ranging from the administrative structure to the team set-up, including "all aspects of men's and women's football, plus two seats on the board of Manchester United PLC and on the board of Manchester United Football Club," the Red Devils' statement said.

The Glazer family have been in charge of Manchester United since 2005 and although they will remain the majority investors, they will relinquish the core part that fans were most concerned about: the purely footballing side of the business. "The ambition is to create a world-class football operation by building on the Club's many existing strengths," reads the Reds' announcement.

"As a local boy and a lifelong supporter of the Club, I am delighted that we have been able to reach an agreement," said Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who also owns Nice in France, FC Lausanne in Switzerland and today's most successful cycling team. Ratcliffe was also blunt in saying the Red Devils' potential is huge but "has not been fully exploited in recent times" and vowed to take them "back to the very top of English, European and world football".

300 million investment

The billionaire paid the American family $33 per share, more than 70 per cent of the current value of each share. In addition, he pledged to invest $300 million in the team to strengthen the club's infrastructure, including a project to redevelop Old Trafford.