By Kieran Maguire

26th Oct, 2023 | 6:00am

Kieran Maguire makes Ratcliffe contract claim ahead of Man United takeover

Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be unable to expand or renovate Old Trafford unless his Man United takeover contract gives him control of the club early.

That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that Ratcliffe’s latest bid to invest in the Red Devils is ‘very strange’.

The British billionaire is the favourite to complete a takeover deal after Sheikh Jassim’s Qatar party withdrew from the process earlier this month.

However, Ratcliffe’s proposal is to buy a 25 percent stake in United for £1.4billion, leaving the Glazers with majority control until 2026.

According to The Times, INEOS want to expand Old Trafford’s capacity to 90,000 after completing their takeover deal.

However, Maguire explains that Ratcliffe will have to wait until he has majority control of the club unless his contract allows him to expand the venue beforehand.

“It’s a very strange deal,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.

“It does appear that Joel Glazer will still be contributing towards football matters.

“That’s the latest report we’ve seen today.

“It’s a lot of money for Ratcliffe to pay effectively to have Manchester United as his footballing sand pit for a few years.

“It’s not addressing some of the major issues that have annoyed Manchester United fans since 2005, such as the existing level of debt and the £900million interest charges Manchester United have spent.

“Then there’s the issue of Old Trafford itself.

“We’re seeing vague references to Sir Jim Ratcliffe wanting to do something with Old Trafford.

“But unless he’s got a contract which is going to give him control over the club, there’s no way you’d want to lend interest-free or to put in equity into an entity unless you were going to get control.“

In other news, Man United could land record-breaking ‘£180m’ cash boost from Sir Jim Ratcliffe