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BREAKING: Premier League Approve Ratcliffe Acquisition Of 25% Stake Of Man United, Club Waiting On FA Green Light—-The Premier League has approved Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s proposed bid to buy a minority stake in Manchester United; United also expect clearance from the Football Association as Ratcliffe, who is the owner of INEOS, closes in on completion of his deal to buy 25 per cent of the club.

In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, United said it had already been granted approval under its rules over who is allowed to be an owner or director of a football club.

United also said it expected clearance from the Football Association as British billionaire Ratcliffe, who is the owner of multinational chemicals company INEOS, closes in on completion of his deal to buy 25 per cent of the club.

Premier League rules disqualify people from becoming owners or directors for reasons such as criminal convictions, sporting bans or involvement in other clubs.

Ratcliffe agreed a deal to buy a stake in United in December and his tender offer for 25 per cent of the Class A shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange has been extended until midnight on Friday night.

The offer, which is part of Ratcliffe’s deal to become the minority owner of Manchester United, was originally due to expire at midnight on Tuesday.

It was announced on Christmas Eve that the INEOS chairman had agreed to buy a 25 per cent stake in the Premier League club in a deal that included investing $300million US dollars (£238m) into their infrastructure.

As well as buying Class B shares held by the Glazer family, the announcement confirmed that Ratcliffe would offer to acquire up to 25 per cent of all Class A shares at a price of 33 US dollars (£26) per share.

Ratcliffe will provide $200m upon completion of the deal and a further $100m by the end of 2024. That additional investment will eventually take Ratcliffe’s stake up to 29 per cent. Owners, the Glazer family, will have a 49% stake under the deal

As part of the deal, Ratcliffe’s INEOS Sport division will take over control of United’s football operations after more than a decade since the club won the Premier League title.

He has met leaders of the independent Manchester United Supporters’ Trust and spoken with local leaders, including senior representatives of Trafford Council, and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.

He was also among those in attendance at the Munich Air Disaster memorial last week.

Ratcliffe is reportedly already planning to lead an overhaul of United’s playing squad.

The 71-year-old was a boyhood United fan and last month described his proposed investment as the most exciting deal he has done in his career.

“I have done a few exciting things, but there is no question (about that),” he said.

Under the filing, more details were provided about Ratcliffe’s personal wealth which said his “liquid assets (primarily consisting of cash and readily marketable securities) were in excess of $4bn. It said his net worth was “significantly in excess of those liquid assets”.

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BREAKING: Harry Maguire 121st Minutes Header Send Manchester United To The UEFA Europa League Semis As Lyon Fumbled 2 Goals Lead

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Maguire 121st Minutes Header Send Manchester United To The UEFA

BREAKING: Harry Maguire 121st Minutes Header Send Manchester United To The UEFA Europa League Semis As Lyon Fumbled 2 Goals Lead—-Harry Maguire was the hero as Manchester United reached the Europa League semi-finals in astonishingly fashion, beating Lyon 5-4 on an unforgettable night at Old Trafford when both teams blew two-goal leads, advancing 7-6 on aggregate.

Thrashed 4-1 at Newcastle United in the Premier League last time out, Ruben Amorim needed a positive reaction from his men – and it came quickly, Manuel Ugarte sweeping home on 10 minutes to complete a slick team move and notch his first Old Trafford goal.

Back between the sticks after being left out of the trip to Newcastle following his pair of costly mistakes in United’s 2-2 first-leg draw, Andre Onana made a point of celebrating his side’s opener in front of the travelling Lyon fans.

Diogo Dalot’s goal in stoppage time capped a hugely encouraging first half in which United showed great aggression to take the game to Lyon and go in two goals up at the break for the first time since November.

Man Utd remained well on top the first 25 minutes of the second half but, after Alejando Garnacho had missed a chance to make it 3-0 on the night, found themselves facing a nervy finale when Corentin Tolisso pulled a goal back for Lyon.

And when Nicolas Tagliafico bagged an equaliser seven minutes later, things became more than nervy.

Tolisso’s red card shortly before the end of normal time ought to have handed the initiative back to Man Utd, but the hosts appeared shellshocked from throwing away such a healthy-looking advantage.

Lyon came out all guns blazing at the start of extra time to go 4-2 up on the night and lead 6-4 on aggregate, Rayan Cherki putting his side ahead before former Arsenal forward Alexandre Lacazette’s penalty seemed to have put the tie to bed.

But the second half of extra time was to prove to be one of the most dramatic periods of football Old Trafford has witnessed in its long and glorious history.

A Bruno Fernandes penalty gave Man Utd hope, before substitute Kobbie Mainoo struck in the 120th minute to, seemingly, send the tie to penalties.

There was to be no need for the lottery of a shootout, though, as, barely one minute later, Maguire, pushed up front as an emergency centre-forward once again, sparked unadulterated pandemonium by meeting Casemiroqw’s cross to head home a winner which had seemed so far away barely six minutes earlier.

Man Utd’s progression keeps alive their hopes of sealing Champions League qualification as Europa League winners, an achievement which would go some way to mitigating what looks set to be their lowest league finish for 35 years.

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BREAKING: Chelsea Through To UEFA Conference League Semis Despite Shock Home Defeat To Legia Warsaw

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Chelsea Through To UEFA Conference League Semis

BREAKING: Chelsea Through To UEFA Conference League Semis Despite Shock Home Defeat To Legia Warsaw—-Chelsea reached their first European semi-final under their BlueCo ownership, though you would not have known it by the reaction at the full-time whistle.

Fans booed as confirmation came of this second-leg loss to a side sitting fifth in the Polish Ekstraklasa, despite Enzo Maresca turning to his A-listers for the visit of Legia Warsaw.

Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson took themselves to 15 and 12 games without scoring respectively, and there were further jeers from fans when they felt the football was too tedious.

Chelsea are overwhelming favourites to secure this trophy, but still need to win over their fanbase.

Those arriving at Stamford Bridge thought with such a comfortable lead from the first leg, Enzo Maresca would turn to the Cobham conveyor belt. They supposed wrong. Maresca’s substitutes’ bench was certainly chokka with academy kids, but his actual line-up was of Premier League strength, which was surprising with an important trip to Fulham less than 72 hours away.

Even Palmer started. He had not scored in any competition since January 14. He should have got a goal here after 84 seconds when one-on-one with Vladan Kovacevic but the out-of-form Englishman missed the target entirely.

When Christopher Nkunku was then denied by Kovacevic, Palmer rushed on to the rebound. He tried a diving header, but Legia’s goalkeeper recovered to produce a super save.

Legia’s first attack after 10 minutes led to them scoring as Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen crashed into Tomas Pekhart to concede a penalty. Pekhart took it himself, scoring to make it 1-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate despite Jorgensen diving the right way.

Legia should have further reduced the deficit when Ryoya Morishita broke behind unmarked, but he dragged wide when facing down Jorgensen.

After 32 minutes, Jadon Sancho crossed low, Marc Cucurella tapped in, and Chelsea’s three-goal advantage on aggregate was restored. They had not scored in any of their last eight first halves but had now. Cucurella thought he had added another before the break, but VAR correctly disallowed it for an offside in the build-up.

At half-time, Maresca replaced Jackson with Tyrique George, the 19-year-old who went up top. After 50 minutes, another youngster in Josh Acheampong lost possession carelessly in midfield as Legia broke forward, with Jorgensen needed to stop Luquinhas from scoring.

The visitors won a corner from that move, and the out-swinger was volleyed towards goal by Claude Goncalves before being helped in by Steve Kapuadi for 2-1.

Chelsea’s fans were frustrated and as was the case in Sunday’s draw with Ipswich, they let it known by jeering as their team tried to pass their way out of the back. Legia’s away support responded by lighting dozens of flares.

Maresca’s side went in search of a leveller with Noni Madueke and George both denied by goal-line clearances. Jorgensen was relieved when another penalty was not awarded against him after colliding with Luquinhas, and George was frustrated when the offside flag denied him a goal.

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