Rory McIlroy has said that he would be interested in buying a stake in Manchester United if the opportunity arose and welcomed Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s bid to be involved with the club.
The 34-year-old golfer is part of a consortium, which includes Anthony Joshua and Trent Alexander-Arnold, that recently bought a 24 per cent stake in the Alpine F1 team.
Speaking in Austin, where he is attending this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, McIlroy said: “Sports team ownership used to be limited to private equity and people who had a ton of money. But now sports stars are becoming more savvy and using their money in the right way.
“I would love to be able to own a tiny percentage of the club I grew up cheering on as a boy.
“I would have loved to have taken 0.00001 per cent of Manchester United when Jim Ratcliffe took 25 per cent. And if another opportunity comes my way I will look at it. But it is not something that has come across our table as of yet.”
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The Northern Irishman has his own investment firm but Alpine is the first team he has bought into. Ratcliffe, the Ineos founder, is in the running to purchase 25 per cent of United as the Glazer family look to sell a minority stake.
McIlroy said he did not know Ratcliffe but their paths are likely to cross as the businessman is also an investor in F1 after he bought a third of the Mercedes team.
“There is Tom Brady at Birmingham and there are a few golfers – Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas – who invested with the 49ers Group and they own a tiny slice of Leeds,” McIlroy said. “They asked me if I wanted to come on board and I said as a Man United fan I cannot go anywhere near that.”
Part of Ratcliffe’s bid is to take charge of the football side at Old Trafford immediately, which McIlroy said he was “excited” about.
“Sir Jim has got a great track record and everybody that does support United should be excited by the possibilities if they give him full sporting authority and decisions for the club. As a fan I am excited.”
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McIlroy was a key part of Europe’s victory in the Ryder Cup, during which he got into an altercation with Justin Thomas’s caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay in the car park. He had reportedly been furious about the actions of Patrick Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava, on the 18th green during a four-balls match on the Saturday and took that anger out on Mackay.
Three weeks on, McIlroy said the air had been cleared and that he had no regrets over the spat as he believed it had driven the team on.
“I felt like what happened in the car park galvanised the team and it benefited us,” McIlroy said.
“Things happen in the heat of the moment. Tensions were high but Joe came into the European team room on Sunday night and had a drink and a chat. I have had a great relationship with Joe over the years and that wasn’t going to change.
“The incident happened. I didn’t want to meet anyone on the Sunday morning because I wanted what happened to fuel me and my focus was on making sure Europe won the Ryder Cup ‒ and then we will sort all the other stuff out after. And it is all fine. We are all friends.”
