Michael Knighton has confirmed his plans to buy Manchester United after meeting with three billionaires.
Also, after his OGC Nice owner failed to bid for Chelsea earlier this year, he pleaded with his Red Devils fan Sir Jim Ratcliffe to join the consortium. Did.
Former Red Devils director Knighton is keen to head up the group to replace current United owner.
Since Knighton's initial announcement last week, the club's share price has already risen him 12%.
And fans are eager for a deal to close after United's dreadful start under new boss Eric ten Hag.
22} In a new statement on Wednesday, Knighton alleges the Glazers have "damaged" United's brand.The 70-year-old, who nearly bought the club in 1989, has amassed his three billionaires who could put pressure on United's American owners.
But Knighton hopes to take the consortium's endeavors to the next level with the help of billionaire businessman Ratcliffe.
Ratcliffe - his reported £10.5 billion worth - already runs French giants OGC Nice.
And Ratcliffe could be desperate for a challenge in England football after his unsuccessful bid to replace Roman Abramovich at Chelsea.
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Knighton to ITVI'm talking This is nothing personal to his Glazers. They always had the wrong model.
"[My consortium?] They're the small billionaires I've been talking to for the past three or four months." 43}
"When some fan groups contacted me, strangely they said, 'Look, our club is dead under our feet.'
"I called a few times and have since put this consortium together.
"We are not the great Sir Jim Ratcliffe. We don't have those resources, we're not a state-run sovereign fund with $2 billion a day in oil revenue.
"The point is someone has to stand up.
``If I could smoke the great Sir Jim to buy Manchester United, my consortium would get a lot of publicity.
"We will bid on our own consortium, but we don't have the resources to do everything we need to do."
