Invoking the famous words of , British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe set out his ambition to knock local rivals Manchester City and Liverpool 바카라off their perch바카라 within three years after becoming a co-owner of Manchester United. (More Football News)
Ratcliffe completed his purchase of a minority stake in on Tuesday, with an initial injection of $1.5 billion meaning he owns approximately 27.7% of the iconic club 바카라 with the promise of further investment of $100 million by the end of the year.
Ratcliffe, 71, now partly owns a club he has supported since the age of 6 but which has been in the shadow of City and Liverpool over the past decade since the retirement of Ferguson in 2013.
Ferguson once said his greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool 바카라right off their perch,바카라 with United managing to surpass its great rival's tally of 18 league titles before Ferguson retired. The Scot also once branded as the 바카라noisy neighbors바카라 in 2010.
Playing to the gallery, Ratcliffe used the same phrases in his first public words since officially becoming co-owner.
바카라We have a lot to learn from our noisy neighbor and the other neighbor. They are the enemy at the end of the day,바카라 Ratcliffe said. 바카라There is nothing I would like better than to knock both of them off their perch. Equally, we are the three great northern clubs who are very close to one another.
바카라They have been in a good place for a while and there are things we can learn from both of them. They have sensible organizations, great people within the organizations, a good, driven and elite environment that they work in. I am very respectful of them but they are still the enemy.바카라
Ratcliffe said it would not be an 바카라overnight change.바카라
바카라It's going to take two or three seasons,바카라 he said. 바카라You have to ask the fans for some patience. I know the world these days likes instant gratification but that's not the case with football, really.
바카라It's not a 10-year plan. The fans would run out of patience if it was a 10-year plan. But it's certainly a three-year plan to get there.바카라
Ratcliffe said he is looking to work with the public sector on either building a new $2.5 billion stadium to regenerate the area around Old Trafford, which he envisages hosting England games and FA Cup finals, or redeveloping the existing site at a cost of $1.25 billion.
He believes having a modern stadium is key and wants it to rival Wembley Stadium as the top venue in England for the biggest matches.
바카라There is a really good case to refurbish Old Trafford,바카라 he said. 바카라You finish up with a great stadium, it's probably an 80 or 90,000-seater. But it's not perfect because you're modifying a stadium that is slap bang up against a railway line and all that type of stuff, so it's not an ideal world. But you finish up with a very good answer.
바카라There's this wider conversation with the community as to whether you could use a more ambitious project on site as a catalyst to regenerate that Old Trafford area.바카라
