Credit: Twitter
Manchester United went on sale in November last year after being blasted in an interview by Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo. It came as a relief for the fans as they were crying for a new owner to come in. The club still hasn't completed its sale as Britain's richest man and INEOS chairman Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari billionaire Sheikh Jassim are in the race to be the new owners. Recently, Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani submitted an increased fourth bid to buy the Red Devils on Tuesday.
The Qatari tycoon submitted his third bid as his 'final' but has submitted his fourth 'take-it-or-leave-it' offer of a massive £5 billion to the Raine Group, the New York-based investment bank overseeing the sale of the club to buy the Old Trafford club from the Glazers . Sheikh wants full ownership of the club while Ratcliffe’s offer is for 50 per cent ownership as he values the club higher than Jassim at $6bn.
According to The Atheltic, several sources are reporting confidence from Ratcliffe's team that his INEOS bid will be successful. Bankers associated with past acquisitions by the chemical company were lately instructed to pull together specific financing for Manchester United, indicating advanced talks.
Ratcliffe has also offered executive co-chairmen Joel and Avram Glazer the opportunity to stay with a partial stake for two or four years before finally exiting. If the Glazers accept Sheik Jassim’s new offer it will clear the club’s huge $ 536 million debt and United will see huge improvements in the stadium and investments in the playing squad.
The Glazers reportedly prefer Ratcliffe as the family values the club at $6bn and they want to stay at the club in some capacity for some more time. United fans and the sporting staff hope that the sale of the club is completed as quickly as possible so the new management and the manager can discuss the strengthening of the squad in the summer transfer window.
