One of the greatest golfers of all-time Rory McIlroy has admitted that he’d be interested in owning a “tiny percentage” of Manchester United, after investing in the Alpine F1 Team.
Ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, it was announced that consortium Otro Capital had invested £173 million into Alpine, with McIlroy, footballers Juan Mata and Trent-Alexander Arnold, heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua and two NFL players.
They were present at the Circuit of the Americas for the unveiling of the investment, which will hopefully boost Alpine’s aspirations to catch the leading teams.
The new investors would’ve likely been encouraged by the Enstone-based team’s performance on Friday, as both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly progressed to Q3 in qualifying.
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Saturday was another successful day for Alpine, as Gasly managed to finish seventh in the fifth sprint race of the season after getting himself within five seconds of George Russell, who had a time penalty.
An increasing number of sporting stars are starting to invest in various teams across a range of sports, with McIlroy having admitted that he was invited to join the 49ers Group who own a small amount of Leeds United FC.
The Northern Irishman rejected this offer due to him being a lifelong fan of Manchester Utd, who Mercedes shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe has recently agreed a 25% stake in.
Ratcliffe is the CEO and founder of INEOS, who own a third of Mercedes’ F1 outfit.
McIlroy would “love” the chance to buy even the smallest of stakes in Manchester Utd, with him admitting that he’ll take a “look” if “another opportunity” to invest in a sporting team comes up.
“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,” McIlroy said, as reported by the Irish Independent.
“I would love to be able to own a tiny percentage of the club I grew up cheering on as a boy.
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“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.
“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. They asked me if I wanted to come on board, and I said as a Man United fan I cannot go anywhere near that.
“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.”