Former Manchester United takeover bidder Thomas Zilliacus says he would “love” to talk with Sir Jim Ratcliffe about giving supporters a more immersive experience at Old Trafford – and help raise serious money for the club.
The Finnish businessman, who withdrew from last year’s takeover race having not heard back from the Glazers, has formally submitted a 100% buy-out bid worth around £1.2billion for Inter Milan as he pivots towards the Italian market. He is being backed by his investment firm – comprised of different business chiefs to the ones involved in the bid for United – with most investors situated in the US.
Zilliacus is not currently looking at Premier League investment as a result of his pursuit of Inter but says he would be open to discussing his fan platform model with Ratcliffe, having initially proposed the idea within his own former bid.
READ MORE: Who is Thomas Zilliacus? Surprise bidder for Manchester United profiled
READ MORE: Next steps as Premier League ratify Sir Jim Ratcliffe investment
Ratcliffe has finally had his £1.3billion minority investment bid ratified by the Premier League and takes over sporting control of the club. Meanwhile, the Glazers will operate the commercial departments, which is where Zilliacus’ proposal would fall into.
After submitting his bid through consortium XXI Century Capital last year, the 67-year-old told the Manchester Evening News that his team was drafting up an app which would hand more control to fans in exchange for a fee. He indicated that through this mechanism, supporters would be able to have a say on general matters such as transfer philosophy and dividends, but not more specific topics such as managerial sackings.
The former high-ranking Nokia official, who was chairman of Finnish football giants HJK Helsinki between 1982 and 1986, says the model has been “proven” having been previously rolled out at one unnamed Italian club. Zilliacus claims that in another case, $400 was generated from each supporter with five per cent of the fanbase enlisting into the scheme.
He says he would be keen to talk about these proposals with Ratcliffe and his team amid revamp plans for Old Trafford. “I welcome very much the fact that Jim Ratcliffe is running the footballing side because he’s a passionate Manchester United fan and knows football,” he told MEN Sport.
“So what I would love to do is to talk with him and his team about the fan monetisation platform that we would have deployed if we would have been able to take over the club. It is a platform that can generate very significant revenues for Manchester United.
“And I would be more than happy to discuss the possibility of working together in order to generate those funds. I know we could structure something very exciting for the global fan base that would generate very significant revenues for the club.”
Speaking about the fan-led model itself, Zilliacus added: “It was actually a Swedish concept that I acquired a few years back. The best monetary returns was actually with a top Italian club, one of those in the Champions League. So it has been tested.
“We have run this with other top clubs and we have made over 400 US dollars per participating fan. So of course, not every single fan is participating… about five per cent of the fan base participated when we tested it with other clubs.
“So if Manchester United has around a billion fans, as has been claimed, five per cent of that is 50 million times 400 US dollars. That’s a hell of a lot of money.”
That would be a ‘hell of a lot of money’ as Zilliacus says. 50 millon multiplied by $400 equals $20billion. Zilliacus, who ‘declined participation’ in the third round of takeover bidding back in April, was never seen as a credible option to buy United with doubts over his finances.
Nevertheless, he said that in the end he was not disappointed to lose out on the United takeover race given the Glazers pivoted towards minority investment. He believes Ratcliffe’s arrival is beneficial for the club.
He added: ”I think it’s very positive. I’m very impressed by the fact that, with the vast business interest that he has, he seems to be spending very serious time on the clock… that of course is very positive for the club.”
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Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
