In an article for The Mirror, Stan Collymore has claimed British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe would get more enjoyment out of owning Tottenham Hotspur than anything he would achieve with Manchester United.
Ratcliffe was rumoured to be interested in purchasing Manchester United and is believed to have tabled a bid for the club last week (The Athletic). The 70-year-old is one of Britain’s richest men, and is the owner of the petrochemicals corporation INEOS.
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Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani has also put a proposal forward for the Red Devils, and it remains to be seen which offer the Glazer family will accept, if any.
Tottenham are also the subject of interest at the moment, with Iranian-American businessman Jahm Najafi leading a consortium for a £3.1 billion proposal (Financial Times). It’s suggested Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is in discussions with various other parties, too (Evening Standard).
However, Collymore reckons he has found the perfect fit for both Ratcliffe and Tottenham, and claims the former should turn his attention to the North London club.
Collymore said: “Sir Jim Ratcliffe should shelve his plans to buy Manchester United – and snap up Spurs instead. The billionaire businessman might be one of the frontrunners to take over at Old Trafford from the Glazers. But to my mind, he should fix his gaze on north London.”
On the project at Spurs, he said: “The club needs fresh input. It needs someone with the vision to take them across the line. Ratcliffe has just turned 70 years of age.
“At this stage of his life, surely leading Spurs to a cup win and taking them regularly into the Champions League would give him more of a buzz than winning trophies at Old Trafford.
“If he did take over up there, the expectation in 18 months’ time would be: ‘Deliver like Fergie.’ For any owner, that’s a nightmare. It’s not exciting, being told you HAVE to win every year. Spurs would take any pot at the moment.”
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From a moral viewpoint, I would feel far more comfortable with Ratcliffe taking over at Spurs than any of the Qatari propositions that are floating around at the moment.
We could see a domino effect here where, if Manchester United don’t go for Ratcliffe, he may well look at Spurs instead.
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