Man Utd takeover CONFIRMED as Sir Jim Ratcliffe buys 25 per cent of club for £1.3bn & injects £237m to kickstart new era

Manchester United have CONFIRMED Sir Jim Ratcliffe's 25 per cent takeover of the club.

The British billionaire has purchased a £1.3billion stake in the Red Devils from the Glazer family.

Ratcliffe, who will run football operations at the club, had initially wanted to become the majority owner, but has now settled for a minority stake.

And it has been confirmed he will inject £237million into the club.

A statement on Man Utd's website read: "Manchester United plc announced today that it has entered into an agreement under which Chairman of INEOS, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, will acquire 25 per cent of Manchester United’s Class B shares and up to 25 per cent of Manchester United’s Class A shares and provide an additional $300 million intended to enable future investment into Old Trafford.

"As part of the transaction, INEOS has accepted a request by the board to be delegated responsibility for the management of the club’s football operations.

"This will include all aspects of the men's and women's football operations and academies, alongside two seats on the Manchester United PLC board and the Manchester United Football Club boards.

"The joint ambition is to create a world-class football operation building on the club’s many existing strengths, including the successful off-pitch performance that it continues to enjoy."

Ratcliffe then added: "As a local boy and a lifelong supporter of the club, I am very pleased that we have been able to agree a deal with the Manchester United board that delegates us management responsibility of the football operations of the club.

"Whilst the commercial success of the club has ensured there have always been available funds to win trophies at the highest level, this potential has not been fully unlocked in recent times.

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"We will bring the global knowledge, expertise and talent from the wider INEOS Sport group to help drive further improvement at the club, while also providing funds intended to enable future investment into Old Trafford.

"We are here for the long term and recognise that a lot of challenges and hard work lie ahead, which we will approach with rigour, professionalism and passion.

"We are committed to working with everyone at the club – the board, staff, players and fans – to help drive the club forward.

“Our shared ambition is clear: we all want to see Manchester United back where we belong, at the very top of English, European and world football.”

The Glazers first put the club up for sale a year ago but failed to agree to selling their entire share.

Their demands led to rival Sheikh Jassim pulling out of the race but it did not deter Ratcliffe, who plans to take a hands-on approach to running the club.

He is set to be in charge of football operations and has been desperate to get his feet under the table for some time with Man Utd enduring a difficult season.

He has already fired chief executive Richard Arnold and director of football John Murtough could follow suit.

Ex-Juventus CEO Jean-Claude Blanc, Crystal Palace director Dougie Freedman and Monaco transfer guru Paul Mitchell have emerged as possible replacements.

Meanwhile, cycling mastermind Sir David Brailsford is key to the takeover and he will join Ratcliffe in implementing an overhaul of the club's transfer department.

Ratcliffe's investment is set to hand the Glazers £650million from the sale of their Class B shares, which have ten times the voting power of A shares that are publicly traded.

The other half of the money will supposedly go to various minority shareholders.

SunSport exclusively revealed that Ratcliffe and Co will demand answers as to why the club spent £1.4bn on transfer flops.

There are reportedly no plans to build a new stadium.

However, he will supposedly invest £245million into improving the club's infrastructure.

Between £150m and £200m of the budget is said to have been put aside to develop the Carrington training ground.

It comes as Man Utd continue to struggle on the pitch following a 2-0 defeat to West Ham on Saturday.

They have lost eight of their 18 Premier League games and sit eight points adrift of the top four.

And they were also eliminated in the Champions League group stage after just one win from six games.

They finish bottom of a group containing Bayern Munich, Copenhagen and Galatasaray, meaning they also missed out on the Europa League.