Man Utd takeover breakthrough as Sheikh Jassim ‘ready to pay £6bn’

The potential takeover of Manchester United is reportedly getting closer with Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani poised to meet the Glazers’ £6billion asking price. The current owners have set a deadline of 9pm on Wednesday for second bids and it appears the Qatari party are prepared to go big to beat Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS group to the keys to Old Trafford.

United were first put on the market in November after the Glazer family announced that it was ‘commencing a process to explore strategic alternatives’ for the club. Options ranging from bringing ‘new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions involving the company’ were to be considered with interested parties invited to come forward.

The Raine Group, who are overseeing the process, set a soft deadline for initial bids last month with Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe the only two parties to publically confirm their interest in a full takeover.

Talks between United officials and representatives of both groups took place last week and new bids are now expected before Wednesday’s deadline. The Daily Star reports that the Qatari bid may now have the upper hand with Sheikh Jassim willing to match the Glazers’ £6billion asking price while Ratcliffe is reluctant to enter a big bidding war.

Once the revised offers are received the Raine Group will select a preferred bidder with the chosen candidate given increased access to club documents. This will give the frontrunner the chance to do more due diligence before completing a proposed sale with the current owners.

The Qatari’s willingness to pay the full price puts them in the driving seat with Ratcliffe keen to stress he will not pay over the odds for the club he supports.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, he said: “How do you decide the price of a painting? How do you decide the price of a house? It’s not related to how much it cost to build or how much it cost to paint,” Ratcliffe said. “What you don’t want to do is pay stupid prices for things because then you regret it subsequently.”

There remains significant moral questions over the Qatari bid with critics arguing that it would amount to a state takeover of the club like what has happened with PSG, Manchester City and Newcastle.

There are also allegations of sports washing, buying the Red Devils to try and detract attention from the questionable human rights record at home and bolster the state’s global image.