Last night Mike Keegan of the Daily Mail exclusively broke the news that Qatari investors will bid for Manchester United in the coming days [Daily Mail].
🚨 Qatari investors are planning an incredible offer for Manchester United and want to give manager Erik ten Hag the financial backing to lead the club back to the top [@MikeKeegan_DM] #MUFC
— Vital United (@vital_united) February 8, 2023
In November, the Glazer family announced that they were looking to “explore strategic alternatives to enhance the club’s growth”, which included a full sale [Man United], and according to The Athletic, they reported in December that the Raine Group, who have been appointed as the club’s exclusive financial advisors, want a full sale to be completed within the first quarter of 2023, which is January til March [The Athletic].
With the Raine Group wanting a full sale of Manchester United completed in March [The Athletic], it means that the potential buyers that are interested in buying United must submit their bid soon, and before the news broke last night about Qatari investors looking to buy the 13-time Premier League champions, The Times reported in January that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS company had publicly declared their intention to purchase Manchester United.
With the clock ticking, investors from Qatar are putting themselves in the shop window to buy Manchester United, and according to Keegan of the Daily Mail, he is reporting that not only are they planning on making an enormous offer to buy the club, but they are also willing to back Erik ten Hag in the transfer market in an attempt to restore the club to its former glories.
The sources that the Mail have been in touch with say that the Qatari investors are “a group of private, high-wealth individuals based in the oil-rich state, buoyed by Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup, have set their sights on a club they view as ‘football’s crown jewels’” [via Daily Mail].
The Mail are reporting that the Qatari group will make an offer to buy United “in the coming days”, ahead of the time limit that has been set by the Glazer family, which is the middle of February, and the group are positive that their bid will prove to be difficult for the other bidders to match, which suggests that it could be in the region of £6-7 billion, which according to The Athletic, the Glazers are after.
Many fans might be wondering if this group will clash with the ownership of Paris Saint-Germain, who are owned by Qatar Sport Investment, because two clubs in the same competition (Champions League, for example) cannot be owned by the same institution, however, in an article published today, Keegan said that the group who will be placing a bid to buy Man United are confident “that there will be no issues presented by the nation’s ownership” as they are both separate [via Daily Mail].
