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Manchester United will almost certainly be sold later this year as the Glazer family look to finally exit the club, despite contrasting reports. Exactly who could buy them, however, isn’t entirely clear. They’re certainly in demand, though.
Here’s everything we know about the current situation, from potential buyers to how it will affect United this summer. It’s sure to be a bumpy ride.
What is the latest news on the Manchester United takeover?
Sheikh Jassim wants to buy Manchester United.
He has made a £5bn offer for the club but nothing has progressed past that point as of yet. According to Sky Sports, there is a belief around the Qatari bid that the current United owners, the Glazer family, are not sure if they want to sell.
That will be concerning to hear for a large contingency of the Old Trafford faithful, who have been protesting against the Glazers for some time now.
Sheikh Jassim has made five bids to buy United with his latest offer submitted on the 7th of June. It has been over two months since that bid, but there has been little movement.
The proposal is to buy 100% of the club in a debt-free deal, which is a different structure to the one Jim Ratcliffe is offering.
The rival bidder Ratcliffe has made offers to buy 69% of the club in a ‘phased takeover’, with some reports suggesting he is close to completing a deal.
But Sheikh Jassim’s bid team believes nothing has changed and he is not prepared to stand down as it is ultimately up to the Glazers’ decision if they want to sanction a sale.
The latest report from the Daily Mail said that the Glazer family were going to take the club off of the market with their £10bn valuation being nowhere near matched.
Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol has since come out and contradicted this news with a more promising story for the Old Trafford faithful.
“Manchester United bidders remain interested in buying the club. Nothing has changed yet as far as they are aware. Source involved in the process says Glazers should take the money and go, they have two massive bids which value the club at far more than its share price has ever been and talk of United being worth £10 billion is totally unrealistic.”
Manchester United legend Gary Neville commented on the whole situation on social media too and he was more in Solhekol’s court than that of The Daily Mail, writing the following.
“I don’t believe the Glazers not selling/doing anything story. They have to do something. They’ve run out of money and the financial situation is desperate.
“They need investment in. They’re also having a toxic impact on the club from the inside out. The negligence continues for now but I don’t think it can go on without some action on raising funds. Also who would come in as a minority alongside them with the damage it would do to their reputation.”
He remains committed to wiping the debts and investing in the infrastructure of the men’s and women’s teams. The prestigious academy is also an area in which he intends to fund.
Senior officials within Old Trafford have been left uninformed throughout this takeover process and welcome a conclusion.
Why are the Glazers selling the club?
Because they can make an enormous profit, essentially. Malcolm Glazer only put up £272m to purchase United back in 2005, despite the club being worth over £800m, per The Guardian. He achieved that through a leveraged buyout, putting up the club’s assets as collateral against a loan.
In effect, the club paid for its own buyout – they’ve been saddled with enormous debt ever since as the Glazers slowly paid off the rest of the purchase using United’s money.
A recent report from Reuters suggests an upcoming sale could be for around £4.7bn – there’s your reason for the sale.
Who is trying to buy Man Utd?
There are two potential buyers. The first, Sheikh Jassim, is from the powerful Qatari Royal Family. The second, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, is the UK’s richest man.
There are other options, of course. The Mirror claims that several US investment companies would like to take minority stakes in United, allowing the Glazers to retain control but with more spending power. The report says it’s ‘unlikely’ that things would go down that road, however.
Who is Sheikh Jassim?
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani is the son of Qatar’s former Prime Minister. He was educated in the United Kingdom before returning to Qatar, where he currently acts as chairman of the Qatar Islamic Bank. Sheikh Jassim was previously on the board of Credit Suisse – one of the world’s biggest investment banks.
However, it’s unclear what his actual net worth is, and it’s thought that the majority of the money here comes from Qatar itself. Per the BBC, there are suggestions that Premier League clubs would want any purchase fully investigated under suspicions that the state will provide the funds. Those suspicions were only given strength when Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi – also chairman of Qatar Sports Investments – spoke with the Glazers in May.
As for Jassim himself, he’s said to be a lifelong Manchester United fan. The controversy, though, is whether he’s actually the one buying the club.
Who is Sir Jim Ratcliffe?
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is, per the Sunday Times, the second-richest figure in the UK. He has a net worth standing at just under £30bn and is the chairman/CEO of INEOS chemicals group – a company he founded in 1998.
From Greater Manchester, Ratcliffe is a lifelong United fan and has actually stepped into football before. He, through INEOS, owns OGC Nice in France, though he hasn’t found much success with them. Ratcliffe also attempted to purchase Chelsea during the dramatic bidding war last year, but saw a £4.25bn bid rejected.
When will the takeover be completed?
Suggestions are that any takeover would happen late this year. Given the figures involved, it’s not a deal that will be pushed through quickly.
This perhaps shouldn’t be too much of a surprise – Newcastle United’s takeover by PIF became a largely protracted process, with rumours flying around until it spectacularly collapsed in July 2020, before being suddenly approved in October 2021.
How does this affect Manchester United in the transfer window?
Initially, there were worries that United wouldn’t really be able to do anything in this transfer window because of the takeover talks. The club can’t de-value itself, limiting the risk they can take with transfer fees.
But they have managed to clinch big-money deals for Mason Mount, Rasmus Højlund and André Onana this summer. So, in actual fact, it’s not really affected them at all.
Still, Erik ten Hag is active in the transfer window as he searches for further reinforcements. Benjamin Pavard has been a name linked to the Red Devils in recent weeks, but he appears to be on his way to Inter.
United need to offload players before they can bring bodies in, and after failing to move on Harry Maguire, there isn’t expected to be many incomings before the window slams shut in less than two weeks’ time.