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Sir Jim Ratcliffe is confident his takeover bid for Manchester United will be successful as the billionaire prepares to assemble a world-leading team at Old Trafford.

Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest man, is in direct competition with a Qatari offer to take over United from the Glazer family.

Sheikh Jassim’s offer is worth more than Ratcliffe’s offer, while the Brit is only looking to take over the active majority of the Glazer club rather than buy out full ownership.

That puts Qatar’s offer ahead, but the Times says Ratcliffe is confident he will eventually manage to take over at United.

Ratcliffe positioned himself as a bidder who could win supporters back to his side after 17 years of Glazer ownership.

The Oldham-born billionaire has vowed to put ‘United’ back at ‘Manchester United’ and there is a clamor for a Mancunian to own the club again.

But Ratcliffe’s preparation to take over is already underway, with the billionaire in talks with Dave Brailsford to form a ‘world leading’ team at the Theater of Dreams.

Brailsford’s ‘marginal gains’ mantra, whereby small improvements are made across the board to have a bigger overall impact, has proven successful in other sports such as cycling and sailing.

United has lagged behind its competitors, both in terms of infrastructure and staff.

Brailsford have been tasked with assembling the ‘best in class’ in all areas, to restore United to Ratcliffe’s vision of being the best in the world.

Ratcliffe will meet United this week to get a better idea of ​​the club’s finances, in a move that is designed to increase the club’s bid.

The Glazers want more than £5bn for the club, but Ratcliffe and Jassim have offered less than £4.5bn.

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