MANCHESTER, ENGLAND -- "My money is in this pot and I'm not here to make more -- I just want to win." As a statement of intent, Sir Jim Ratcliffe had turned night into day at Manchester United by telling club staff why he has decided to spend £1.3 billion for a 25% stake in the team.
It is early January and Ratcliffe, alongside Sir Dave Brailsford (former performance director of British Cycling and director of sport at Ratcliffe's INEOS Group), is addressing over 100 United staff -- ticket office and administration staff, security officers, canteen workers -- in one of Old Trafford's vast conference suites.