Manchester United

On Christmas Eve, it was confirmed that Ratcliffe, via his INEOS Group, had agreed to purchase 25% of the 20-time English champions for a fee in the region of £1.3bn.

However, the move is yet to be officially confirmed, as it has not yet been ratified by the Premier League.

According to The Independent, the Glazers can still pull the plug at this stage, but the American owners would have to pay Ratcliffe £50m.

The report claims that Ratcliffe's stake of the club will increase from 25% to 29% once his investment into the infrastructure of the club, which is said to be in the region of £236m, has been converted into shares.

A document published on the New York Stock Exchange revealed that Man United will be unable to sack Erik ten Hag as head coach without first consulting Ratcliffe.

Ten Hag's future continues to be called into question due to the team's struggles this season, but the Dutchman said during Friday's press conference that he has the support of the new minority shareholder.

"They want to work with me, and I want to work with them. We will have the conversations, the meetings, so we will see," the Dutchman told reporters.

"I'm focused on the games so far. So, as I said, in this moment, I don't want to have distractions but in the coming days, weeks, there will be time for this and then I will know more.

"But I think it's a good thing, it's very positive, we are really looking forward to working together. INEOS wants to work with me, with this infrastructure, and I want to work with them."

Man United will also be unable to conduct any January transfer business without the agreement of Ratcliffe despite the fact that his move will not be ratified by the Premier League until the end of next month.

The Glazer family signalled in November 2022 that they were open to a sale of the club, and it did appear that Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani would complete a 100% takeover this year.

However, the Qatari banker withdrew his interest after allegedly becoming frustrated with the stance of the club's American owners, who ultimately decided against a full sale.