Sir Jim Ratcliffe's damning blast speaks volumes as he puts £200m club up for sale
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is keen to sell Nice having signalled his intention to sell the Ligue 1 side back in March, with the British billionaire putting his full focus into Manchester United
Sir Jim Ratcliffe signalled his intention to sell Nice back in March, with the British billionaire now open to offers for the Ligue 1 club. Ratcliffe, through his company Ineos, bought Nice back in the summer for 2019.
At the time he paid around £85million to buy into the French side, but it has been a rocky reign for Ratcliffe. Ineos are deeply unpopular among the club's supporters, having failed to deliver the success they have promised.
Ratcliffe's attention has also been turned to Manchester United since he bought a minority stake in the Premier League side last year. Having endured a dreadful campaign, United have taken up more and more of Ratcliffe's time.
With a new stadium also in the planning, Ratcliffe is now looking to sell Nice. The billionaire is looking to bring in around £213m in exchange for the club, with New York-based investment bank Lazard tasked with finding a buyer.
It should come as little surprise that Ratcliffe is looking to move on from the Allianz Riviera. Just two months ago, the 72-year-old made it clear he had little interest in overseeing matters in the south of France.
READ MORE: Sir Jim Ratcliffe's ruthless Man Utd overhaul continues as two more to leave Old TraffordREAD MORE: Bruno Fernandes explains rules to journalist in tense interview after Man Utd penalty"With Nice, in the French league, you can buy a club for £100million. It’s much cheaper access. But I don’t particularly enjoy going to watch Nice because there are some good players but the level of football is not high enough for me to get excited," he told The Times.
“The best season that Nice has had is this one where we’ve not been allowed to get involved because of multi-club ownership rules. They’ve been so much better without our interference! Maybe there’s a lesson there as well, you know."
A 'blind trust' have been operating Nice this season, with neither Ineos nor Ratcliffe having 'control or decisive influence' at the club. That was due to UEFA rules around multi-club operations as both United and Nice qualified for the Europa League.
Any sale is complicated by the major uncertainty around the Ligue 1 broadcasting rights. The league's deal with DAZN has collapsed, with the streaming platform ending their contract three years early.
That means that French football does not have a domestic TV deal for next season. Ligue 1 teams have even been told by the French football’s financial regulator to not include media revenue in their budget projections.
Nice currently sit sixth in the French top-flight and last week beat Paris Saint-Germain to deny them an Invincibles season. If they remain sixth they will qualify for the Europa Conference League, though they are just two points adrift of the Champions League places.
The potential sale of Nice comes after Ratcliffe's sailing team Ineos Britannia withdraw its challenge for next year's America's Cup. In April, Ineos settled a sponsorship dispute with New Zealand Rugby over a performance partnership the chemical company ended early.
Through Ineos, Ratcliffe also owns Swiss club Lausanne and takes in the Mercedes Formula 1 team and the Ineos Grenadiers Tour de France-winning cycling team.
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