‘Stupid money’ – Sir Jim Ratcliffe slammed the Glazer family’s Manchester United manager’s selection and a £47m deal for Fred in a candid 2019 interview

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s interest in Manchester United might be good news for millions of fans around the world, but not for any of the club’s players.

The Ineos chief executive, who is also an avid Red Devils fan, is interested in buying a stake in the club with a view to a full takeover in the future.

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“If the club is for sale, Jim is definitely a potential buyer,” the spokesman told The Times.

Ratcliffe, who is estimated to be worth over £21billion, would have the means to buy the club but is ready for a more gradual takeover process.

“If something like this were possible, we would be interested in discussing long-term ownership,” the spokesperson added.

If the Glazer family finally agrees to a buyout deal, however, that could be bad news for Fred.

The Manchester United midfielder has drawn criticism for his performances since joining the club for £47million from Shaktar Donetsk in 2018.

And when Ratcliffe spoke about United in an interview with The Times in 2019, he said the club had spent “stupid money” on the Brazilian midfielder.

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He said: ‘[Ineos] never wants to be the stupid money in town, ever.

“They [United] are in big trouble as a business.

“They don’t have the right selection of managers, they haven’t bought well. They’ve been the stupid money, which you see with players like Fred.

“United have spent a lot of money since then. [Sir Alex] Ferguson left and was poor, to put it mildly. Surprisingly poor, to be honest.

“We have a different approach here to be moderately smart about it. Try to do it more grassroots, trying to locate young talent.

“Some clubs seem to have the ability to do that, Southampton, Lille. United did it really badly. They lost the plot.