According to reports, Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani has’slipped ahead’ of Sir Jim Ratcliffe in the bidding for Manchester United.
Ratcliffe, the richest man in Britain, and Qatari financier Sheikh Jassim have both made multiple offers for the Premier League club.
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According to reports from last week, Sheikh Jassim, who made the club’s sixth and final offer earlier this month, and United are negotiating exclusivity.Thereis mounting speculation that the Qatari banker’s most recent offer, estimated to be valued over $6.5 billion (£5.2 billion) with a further $1 billion (around £800 million) of investment in the club also guaranteed, has been successful
However, the BBC claim that exclusivity had not yet been granted by Raine – the banking group handling the sale on behalf of the owners, the Glazers – and that talks are continuing with interested parties.
Sheikh Jassim now ahead of Ratcliffe
That information has been backed up by The Guardian journalist Sean Ingle, who says both Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe remain in the hunt to buy the club – even if the Qatari banker is now favourite.
“The sense both publicly and privately is that Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani’s Nine Two foundation has slipped ahead of Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS bid after making a fifth and final offer this month,” reported Ingle.
Despite this, it is believed that both sides were still engaged in lengthy conversations last week, and few people in the background are willing to place solid bets.
“That is in part due to the opaque nature of the process, the lack of clarity around the Glazers’ true motivations, and the numerous attempts made by Raine, the US bank overseeing the transaction, to raise the price.
Even so, the majority thinks we are nearing the finish line.
The Glazers basically put the club up for sale when they first declared they were looking into “strategic alternatives” for it more than 200 days ago.
With the domestic window now open for English clubs, there are mounting worries over the length of the selling process and its potential impact on United’s summer transfer business.
When questioned about the current controversy on BBC Radio 5 Live, Neville said, “I believe it’s embarrassing.
“But that’s what they did—they prolonged everything. They always have their best interests at heart, not that of the football team.
I
thought they would wait until the end of the season and beyond the FA Cup final so they wouldn’t be subjected to protests and then it would be dealt with quite quickly. But just speaking to journalists and people around the club, there’s no news.
“The idea of Manchester United Football Club with its millions of fans in this country and around the world not being updated by their owners in respect of an ownership sale is quite frankly not good enough.
However, given that the Glazers have owned the club for the past 20 years while being silent and distant, it makes sense.
