The Glazer family, Manchester United’s current owners, will decide the club’s destiny in the following days after analysing the bids submitted and accepting one of them.
By Friday’s deadline, Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe had submitted their final bids for Manchester United. The offers are significantly lower than the Glazers’ £6 billion valuation of the club.
Sheikh Jassim, a banker from Qatar, is still keen on acquiring full ownership of the club but he is not going to spend more than he believes United are worth. According to the Guardian, this is nearly £5 billion, or roughly £1 billion less than the American family’s asking price.
Ratcliffe, the only other publicly disclosed buyer for a controlling stake, has also submitted an offer ahead of the apparent deadline. He is said to aim to buy somewhat more than half of the company, leaving Joel and Avram Glazer with a 20% stake. Ratcliffe, one of the wealthiest people in the country, may have to borrow to complete the transaction.
A third possibility is that one or more of the Glazers retain their stake and invest in the club through Elliott Investment Management if they are interested in doing so.
The funds would be used to either renovate United’s ageing Old Trafford stadium or to create a new stadium, as well as to upgrade the club’s training facilities and to afford and pay player fees for transfers.
Sheikh Jassim’s €5 billion bid is the largest ever made for a sports club, and it will make Manchester United the most valuable club in the world. Chelsea was acquired for half of that last year, and the previous record was held by the NFL franchise Washington Commanders, which sold for €4.6 billion last month.
United supporters are eager for the deal to be completed because the Reds have been in decline for the past ten years, and they want the management to change in order to reverse their fate.
