Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim Bin Hadam al Thani are engaged in a fierce takeover battle for Manchester United, various British media report. The two prospective buyers made a new bid for the English superpower on Wednesday, after the initial deadline. In both cases, however, the offer does not yet meet the wishes of the Glazers, who want more than six billion euros for the club. Negotiations are said to be still in full swing.
Although Ratcliffe and the Qatari both missed the initial deadline, the Glazers still gave the chance to make a new bid. Ratcliffe subsequently made a bid for the majority stake of the selling party (69 percent), while the Qatari want to take over United completely. The Raine Group, which is supervising the acquisition, and the Glazer family will look at the bids next week and then put forward one candidate buyer as the most suitable.
Ratcliffe and a delegation from the Qatari sheikh visited Manchester last week. The two billionaires, who are both in the running to take over Manchester United from the Glazers, have viewed Old Trafford and Carrington and spoken to club management. Both Ratcliffe and Al Thani retain full confidence in manager Erik ten Hag in the event of a possible takeover, the DailyMirror. The 53-year-old Haaksbergenaar is therefore very popular with the supporters of the Red Devils
United has been owned by the Glazer family since 2005. The supporters of the club have been asking for years for the departure of the Americans, who would not be involved enough and would invest too little money. The Glazers recently announced that they are open to a sale of the club, but for the absolute top prize. According to Sky Sports the asking price is no less than 6.7 billion euros.