Sir Jim Ratcliffe ‘lowers asking price’ as Man Utd owner tries to sell club | Football | Sport

However, as a result of UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules, Ratcliffe and INEOS have encountered some logistical problems, with the businessman hoping to sell French side Nice. It’s been on the market for around two years, but so far, there haven’t been any takers.

Based in southern France, the initial valuation was said to be in the region of €150million, which equates to £130m. That asking price came down in January, but French football journalist Romain Molina, is now claiming the asking price has nosedived once more.

It isn’t currently known just how much Ratcliffe and INEOS would settle for, but it’s believed to be considerably lower than the initial £130m figure. The Nice fans have been outspoken in their opposition to the ongoing INEOS ownership, with Ratcliffe having taken a step back last season.

However, this term, they’ve endured a torrid campaign, as Nice currently find themselves struggling towards the wrong end of the Ligue 1 table. With 28 games played in the French first tier, Nice sit 15th in the table, just nine points ahead of the drop zone.

Ratcliffe stirred the pot last year when the billionaire revealed he didn’t find Nice or French football exciting. He remarked: “I can’t honestly answer why we did it. It’s quite a difficult question.

“With Nice, in the French league, you can buy a club for £100m. 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.”

It caused uproar within the Nice fanbase, as well as the management team, with the then manager Franck Haise having responded: “The article that [the comments] appeared in was a lot more complete than that. But he hasn’t seen a Nice match this season. He’s speaking a bit more about what he saw at another time.

“It’s not that serious. We can be annoyed, that’s obvious. But is it really worth staying annoyed for a long time? We have got to keep working, enjoying ourselves and we have got to be doing the best possible. We have to move on and continue on our path.”