On Tuesday, the business owned by British billionaire Jim Ineos formally entered the Manchester United purchase competition.
Ratcliffe is eager to reach a deal, and United's owners, the Glazer family, said in November that they would be open to hearing proposals for the Premier League team.
Ratcliffe, a lifelong supporter of United who tried unsuccessfully to purchase Chelsea for £4.25 billion ($5.2 billion) last year, has long been associated with the club from Old Trafford.
“I can confirm that we have formally put ourselves into the process,” an Ineos spokesman told AFP.
Ratcliffe is looking for another Premier League behemoth after his failed acquisition of Chelsea when Roman Abramovich sold the Blues to American entrepreneur Todd Boehly and his group.
The 70-year-interest old's in replacing the Glazers, who are located in the United States, have not yet received a response from the United.
Ratcliffe, who was born in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, is one of the wealthiest individuals in the country and could be more popular with the United fans than the Glazers, who have seen several fan demonstrations during their tumultuous rule.
Due to the team's recent on-field struggles, the Glazers, who completed a leveraged buyout of the club in 2005, have encountered extreme opposition from fans.
They have long been accused of pulling more money out than they have put in in terms of transfer funding, and their acquisition of United also left the club with enormous debts.
By supporting the unsuccessful European Super League initiative in April 2021, which would have resulted in the team joining a breakaway league, the Glazers infuriated United supporters even more.
The board would "explore all strategic possibilities, including additional investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions involving the firm," according to a statement from United in November.
United's last big prize was six years ago, and they haven't won the Premier League since that year.
United, which had a miserable sixth-place finish in the Premier League last year, has been revitalized by manager Erik ten Hag and is now fourth after defeating archrival Manchester City 2-1 on Saturday.
Ratcliffe may face competition from Saudi Arabian investors after the country’s sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal said in November there “could” be interest in buying United and Liverpool, who are also up for sale.
American investment firm Raine Group, who handled Chelsea’s sale, are exclusively advising United, who are valued at around £5 billion.
Ratcliffe’s entry into the bidding process came just hours after United legend Peter Schmeichel defended the club’s decision to set up a luxury lounge at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Positioned near global software companies, consultancies and banks, the club has created a lounge on the main high street of Davos, a luxury Swiss ski resort teeming with billionaires and CEOs this week during the annual Forum.
“If you look at what we say about ourselves — we say that we are one of the biggest sporting brands in the world — then I think you have to back it up by having a presence in places like this,” Schmeichel, who is acting as an ambassador, told AFP.
Schmeichel, who won five Premier League titles and the Champions League with United, said his personal preference would be for fans to buy the club, but he conceded that this was an unlikely outcome.
“I know there’s a lot of fans who are wanting a change in ownership,” he said.
“For me… would it make a difference to change the ownership? I think the only difference would be if it was owned by the fans, but I think that’s probably impossible. It’s too big.”
