Jim Ratcliffe lands in Nice the week OGC Nice fights to stay in Ligue 1

Jim Ratcliffe flew his Gulfstream G650 (M-OVIE) from a brief stop at Avernas-le-Bauduin Ultralight Airfield in Belgium to Nice-Côte d'Azur Airport on June 15, a journey of 1 hour 26 minutes that set down on the Riviera just before dusk.

The same week Ratcliffe's plane touched down, OGC Nice — the Ligue 1 club his INEOS group has owned since 2019 — was putting the finishing touches on a season that nearly ended in catastrophe. As reported by the Manchester Evening News and the Mirror, Nice finished the regular campaign in 16th place and needed a relegation playoff against Saint-Étienne to preserve their top-flight status. They won 4-1 on aggregate, securing an £18.2 million prize-money boost and sparing the billionaire the spectacle of a club he put up for sale dropping into Ligue 2. Per the Mirror, Ratcliffe has slashed his asking price for Nice to attract buyers, and local outlet Nice-Matin reports two potential suitors have emerged.

The timing of the trip is hardly coincidental. Nice is one of Ratcliffe's recurring destinations, listed as a frequent landing zone just behind his Isle of Man home base and his Geneva and Farnborough haunts. While his attention has shifted heavily to Manchester United since his minority takeover in February 2024 — this month United secured Champions League football under Michael Carrick — the Côte d'Azur remains a business anchor. The flight arrives not for a holiday, but for a quiet close of play on a club that once chased European places and now fights merely to survive, with Ratcliffe's own investment hanging on the result.