Ratcliffe, through his group INEOS, has had an agreement in place with the Glazer family to buy a 25 per cent stake at Manchester United.
As part of the deal, Ratcliffe and his team would take control of the sporting department of the club and carry out changes behind the scenes.
Richard Arnold has already exited his role as Manchester United CEO and more such changes are expected to take place in the coming weeks and months.
However, the announcement of the deal has been delayed as Ratcliffe and the Glazers are working through a complicated legal process.
All parties are working towards having the deal agreed and ratified by the end of the week in order to make an announcement.
But there are no guarantees and the next 24 to 48 hours will end up deciding whether an announcement could be imminent before the new year.
A deal is in place and there are no concerns over it getting through sooner or later but when it could be announced remains unknown.
