Sir Jim Ratcliffe has invested more money into Manchester United to increase his stake in the club.

Ratcliffe acquired 27.7% of the club earlier this year in a deal worth around £1.2bn, but official club financial filings show the INEOS chief has invested a further £79m into the club and has increased his ownership stake to 28.94% in the process.

The shares, which were initially in Ratcliffe’s name after the initial takeover, have all since been transferred to his INEOS company, formalising United’s place in the group’s multi-club portfolio which also includes French side Nice and Swiss outfit Lausanne-Sport.

There will be no issues when it comes to United and Nice facing off in the same European competition as INEOS state they only own 17% of the French side, meaning neither INEOS nor Ratcliffe legally has a controlling influence over Nice – satisfying UEFA’s multi-club rules.

While the timing of Ratcliffe’s latest investment in United may spark excitement ahead of the January transfer window, the funds are unlikely to be used to buy new players and are instead set to contribute to business costs behind the scenes.

It leaves new head coach Ruben Amorim operating with a smaller budget than his predecessor Erik ten Hag, with Ratcliffe keen to bring an end to windows of high turnover and instead put his faith in Amorim to improve the players currently at his disposal.

The boss’ budget could be boosted by any player sales and all eyes are on forward Marcus Rashford, whose recent admission of his desire to seek a new challenge yielded a mixed response from Amorim.

READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP