Sir Jim Ratcliffe reveals Ineos plans for Nice and two ways it could impact Manchester United

Sir Jim Ratcliffe insists he has no plans to sell OGC Nice and has hinted he could even use the French club to help develop players for Manchester United.

The British billionaire intends to essentially take a year away from the French club next season in order for both sides to compete in the Europa League, but says the long-term plan is still for Ineos to have involvement with both clubs.

In the long run, this could be part of a multi-club ownership group, similar to Man City's City Football Group (CFG), which could see Nice used as a stepping stone for players with aspirations of one day playing at Old Trafford.

Although current Uefa rules mean United won’t be able to buy any players from Nice while they are involved in the same European competition, Ratcliffe has hinted that in the future they could send youngsters on loan to Nice, while the French club could also be used as a way to sign promising young talent who United are restricted from directly signing due to Brexit rules.

Asked if he had spoken to Uefa about the issue, Ratcliffe told Bloomberg. "It just means you have to put Nice into a trust, basically for a year. So it's hands-off for a year basically. I mean, I get some of it. I think the public perception of a common owner, owning two different clubs in the same competition they want to feel comfortable that there is no interference.

When pushed on whether or not he would ever sell Nice, he added: "It's not our intention to sell Nice. I quite like the the concept of the multi-club and I think Nice would be very complimentary to Manchester United for two reasons really. One, you can blood younger players in Nice then you can in Manchester United, because Manchester United sits at a higher level, so it's quite tough to bring an 18 or 19 year, I mean occasionally you get a Kobbie Mainoo, but it's quite difficult to blood those young players, but in Nice you could do that and that would be a benefit to Nice.

"Secondly in the UK, because of Brexit, it is quite difficult now to contract the younger generational talents in Europe, but Nice could do that. So a fantastic 15-year-old in France, we can sign up him up to Nice and use Nice as a conduit to Manchester United later on."