Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants Manchester United to “knock Manchester City and Liverpool off their perch” after his minority investment in the club was officially ratified.
Echoing former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson’s famous vow to dethrone Liverpool, Ratcliffe reiterated his determination to return the 20-time English champions to the top.
To do that he will also have to overhaul City, who Ferguson once disparaged as “noisy neighbours” but have since gone on to dominate the domestic and European game.
“I am on exactly the same page as Alex Ferguson, I want to knock them all off their perch,” the British billionaire told the BBC.
“Alex was a very driven individual. We are friends in the sense we’re all in the north west but they are our biggest enemies. They are clearly our biggest competitors in the UK.”
The boss of chemical giant Ineos received confirmation on Tuesday that the Premier League had approved his £1.3bn purchase of a 25 per cent stake in United.
One of Ratcliffe’s priorities is to improve their home stadium, and he favours building a new ground to act as a national stadium of the north over revamping Old Trafford.
“It’s about time someone built a national stadium in the north of England. We are in the midst of thinking about that. If it can be achieved it would clearly be my preference,” he added.
“The people in the north pay their taxes just as the people in the south, but there is a significant bias I think in terms of major investments being in the south.”
Ratcliffe confirmed United’s interest in hiring Newcastle United sporting director Dan Ashworth, who has been placed on gardening leave ahead of his departure.
Ratcliffe echoed famous comments made by former Manchester United boss Ferguson
“I think Dan is a 10/10 sporting director, one of the best around. He would be very good for Man United in my view,” he said.
“It is understandable that somebody like Dan, who is very good at his job, would see the Man United job as a very interesting challenge at this stage of his career.”