Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos has registered an official interest in buying Manchester United from the Glazer family, which could potentially see the company add yet another sports team to its ownership, though, arguably, none as high-profile as the football club.
A boyhood Manchester United fan, Ratcliffe has involved himself and his chemicals company Ineos in the sponsorship and ownership of a host of sports teams over the past half-decade, across a range of disciplines.
Despite founding Ineos in 1998, though, it took another 19 years until Ratcliffe decided to buy his first sports team. Since then, he has bought another four teams, with Manchester United potentially set to be his fifth.
However, what sports teams does Jim Ratcliffe own? FourFourTwo takes a look behind the potential new Manchester United owner.
What sports teams does Jim Ratcliffe own?
The first sports team Ineos ever bought incidentally happened to be in football, when it bought Swiss Super League team FC Lausanne-Sport in 2017. Ratcliffe's first season owning the club unfortunately ended in relegation, but, in the next campaign, Lausanne managed to gain promotion back to the top tier of Swiss football.
Ratcliffe also owns Ligue 1 side Nice, which he took control of in 2019. Plenty of former Premier League players have since pitched up in the capital of the French Riviera, including Aaron Ramsey, Ross Barkley, Kasper Schmeichel, Morgan Schneiderlin and Joe Bryan - Nicolas Pepe is also on loan from Arsenal.
Away from football, Ineos also owns the successful sailing team Ineos Brtannia - formerly Ineos Team UK, skippered by the legendary Sir Ben Ainslie. Cycling team Ineos Grenadiers is also among the company's roster, which has already yielded success in the Tour de France.
Finally, Ineos also owns a third of Formula 1 team Mercedes, becoming principal partners on a five-year contract in 2020.
Ineos also sponsors a host of other events, most notably Eliud Kipchoge's successful attempt to run a marathon under two hours in 2019, and New Zealand Rugby, too.
