Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Britain's richest man, has revealed that it would be his 'dream' to beat Manchester United.
Ratcliffe, who was born in Oldham and is a Manchester United fan, has an estimated fortune of around £20 billion.
His company completed the takeover of French Ligue 1 side Nice during the summer amid speculation of interest in Chelsea.
It seems he was put off the Blues by the club's valuation of around £2.5billion with Nice acquired for a sum of £100 million instead.
"The dream is to beat Manchester, I'd love it," Ratcliffe told L'Equipe as he discussed his new club.
"Playing the Champions League would be great for Nice and we can do it smartly, it's not about throwing money out the window. One hundred million is not very satisfactory."
Ratcliffe has amassed the fortune thanks to Ineos, his multinational chemicals company. He is the owner of cycling giant Team Sky, now renamed Team Ineos, while he also owns FC Lausanne-Sport in Switzerland
Team Ineos was also the driving force before the recent sub-two hour marathon triumph of runner Eliud Kipchoge in Vienna.
The billionaire has mixed allegiances after being brought up as a United fan before supporting Chelsea when he moved to London.
"I'm a tortured Manchester United fan. We have dipped our toe in the water with football," Ratcliffe told the BBC earlier this year.
"It's a very different sport and it's complicated. We are in the process of learning. We bought this club in Switzerland and that's really been educational.
"We haven't got to where we have got to in our chemicals and business world by being rash and stupid.
"We recognise it's a very complex world. We are not in a desperate hurry to get to the end game."
