There is a crisis going on at Ineos owned OGC Nice which could end up impacting Manchester United.
While Manchester United are currently nowhere near where fans would want to club in an ideal world, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has bigger concerns right now.
Namely, that is the situation at Ineos owned OGC Nice which took a real turn for the worse over the past couple of days.
French outlet RMC Sport revealed that on Sunday, 400 Nice fans were waiting for the team at their training ground after they returned from an away trip to Lorient – a sixth straight loss.
Nice fans got onto the team bus to confront players which ended in violence with Terem Moffi and Jeremie Boga named as players who were attacked.
Earlier this year, there were claims Ratcliffe was looking to sell Nice, and this may accelerate that.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe attends the official opening of the refurbished training complex at the Carrington training complex in 2025 in Manchester, England.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Sir Jim Ratcliffe could look to jump ship at Nice due to Ligue 1 financials
French football is in a very tough spot right now, with Lyon last season facing financial peril, and therefore investment in players is usually quite limited.
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Speaking exclusively with United in Focus, Adam Williams has explained the situation at Nice and why Ratcliffe may be keen to sell, but might also faces issues in doing so.
“Nice had their best season of the Ratcliffe era in 2024-25, and that coincided with Ineos stepping back as a result of UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules. Now that Ineos are back at Nice, things clearly aren’t going well.
“They recouped around £65m more than they spent in the summer, but that kind of net spend is the norm in Ligue 1 at the moment.
“The league has had massive problems with the TV deal and some clubs were in real danger if they didn’t make up the shortfall with player sales.
“You can see why Ratcliffe might want to jump ship. It’s not a good time to be involved in French football. He would receive a healthy markup on the £85m or so he paid for the club in 2019, if he can get his asking price of about £220m. The problem is that the pool of credible investors ready to invest in Ligue 1 at the moment is pretty small, which will probably drive down the price.
“The Ligue 1 TV rights deal agreed with DAZN earlier this year – which was due to be comfortably OGC Nice’s biggest source of income, was worth about £1.75bn over five years, but that collapsed, and now clubs are sharing about £150m in streaming revenue this season.
“You can’t survive long-term in modern European football with that kind of income, so buying into a club like Nice would be a huge gamble at present. You’re banking on them making a success of their new direct-to-consumer streaming model, which, incidentally, the Premier League will be watching closely.”
Nice fans might not like it but Ineos link with Manchester United could be a saving grace
Ineos haven’t been popular with Nice fans for a while, with the true perception that the owners were prioritising United opposed to the French side.
However, Nice are in a very bad situation and need all the help they can get and the links with United could actually come in handy for them.
Chido Obi could bring goals, while Sekou Kone is more than ready to contribute on loan. Diego Leon has already been linked with Nice and would be another useful player.
It might not go down well initially, but United’s youngsters could be really useful for Nice and potentially save their awful season.