"We’ll put in two or three billion" - Manchester United bidder Sir Jim Ratcliffe reveals how he tried to buy 50 per cent of Barcelona

Manchester United bidder Sir Jim Ratcliffe has opened up about his attempt to buy 50 percent of Barcelona. In an extract from a book about the founder of petrochemical company Ineos, Times Sport reveals how Ratcliffe was denied an opportunity to own the Catalan giants.

The report claims that the 70-year-old felt horrified to learn that the La Liga giants were willing to sell their television rights to alleviate their financial troubles. Ratcliffe offered to pay a certain amount to purchase 50% of the team; however, the proposal was not accepted.

He said:

“We told them, 'Don’t do it, guys – we’ll put in two or three billion, renovate the Nou Camp and have 50 per cent ownership – and sign a deed to say we’d never sell.' Our interest was in football alone, not making money. I think it would have worked well."

He continued:

“We talked about it but, in the end, they didn’t think they could go to the fans with it. The road they are going down is a disaster. We tried to point that out and they said, ‘We know, but . . .’ They are all short-termers [Barcelona regimes] because the president comes in, does it for five years and hands the mess over to someone else."

He added:

“They have now sold a chunk of the TV rights, and merchandising rights, for the next 25 years. They’ve sold them to American hedge funds. So they’ve got this big slug of cash, which they can now . . . waste.

Ratcliffe is now one of two parties interested in the takeover of Manchester United, alongside Sheikh Jassim of Qatar.

He already owns French club Nice, and he was also an interested party in the sale of Chelsea before the bid was won by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.

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Barcelona president opens up on de Jong transfer saga amid Manchester United interest

de Jong was close to moving to Manchester United last season.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has stated that the club did well to not sell Frenkie de Jong last season.

Speaking to Onze TV3, Laporta claimed that the Catalan side received an offer of €100 million for the Dutchman but eventually held on to him.

He said:

"Last year we had €100m offer for Frenkie de Jong… and we did well not selling him. There are players who should not be on the market."

Manchester United were rumored to be the frontrunners to sign de Jong last season. Barcelona were in the midst of financial troubles and were willing to offload the midfielder.

However, de Jong made it clear that he was unwilling to leave, leading United to pursue Casemiro from Real Madrid.

De Jong went on to carve out a key role for himself in Xavi's squad last season. He went on to make 43 appearances, bagging two goals and four assists.