FOUNDER of Ineos and one of Britain's richest men Sir Jim Ratcliffe has officially entered the race to buy Manchester United.

The current owners, the Glazer family, have appointed merchant bank the Raine Group to take bids for the Premier League club, which could fetch up to £8bn.

"We have formally put ourselves into the process," an Ineos spokesperson said.

Ratcliffe's registration of interest comes nearly a year after he launched a late bid to purchase Chelsea - which was eventually sold for £2.5bn to a consortium led by Todd Boehly.

The merchant bank are currently taking bids for the club with proposals also expected to be tabled from the Middle East, Asia and America.

Reports suggest that the Glazer family want a deal completed by the end of the current Premier League season in May and are believed to be willing to offload a majority stake in the club or a minority holding.

The 20-time English champions - who have a pop-up shop at Davos this year - could be sold for more than double the price of Chelsea, despite not winning the Premier League since 2013.

The Glazer family said in November that they were "commencing a process to explore strategic alternatives" for the club with "new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions involving the company" set to be considered.

Manchester United are enjoying an impressive return to form and are on a run of five Premier League wins in a row - their latest being a 2-1 victory over Manchester City.

Alongside their 90 per cent stake in Manchester United, the Glazer family own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL franchise - who enjoyed Super Bowl success in 2021 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Manchester United's season continues tonight with a Premier League tie against south London club Crystal Palace before heading to league leaders Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.

United sit fourth in the Premier League table and are nine points behind Arsenal at the summit.

Erik ten Hag's men are just one point behind Manchester City in second and are level on points with Newcastle United in third.

Should the sale be finalised with a non-American party, it would buck the general trend seen within England's top division of late.

(c) 2023 City A.M., source Newspaper