Glazer Family Takeover: £5bn Bid by Sheikh Jassim

Avram Glazer and the Glazer family, owners of Manchester United, have ruled out making an immediate decision on the future of the club, despite Sheikh Jassim submitting an improved takeover bid worth around £5bn. This bid promises to wipe out the club’s debt and includes a separate fund to invest in the community. Until this point, Sir Jim Ratcliffe had been considered the frontrunner, offering two of the six Glazer siblings the chance to remain shareholders in the club. There had been hope that a decision would be announced this week, but Sheikh Jassim’s improved bid has put an end to this. The saga is now likely to continue into the summer, and possibly even when the transfer window opens on July 1st, which would be a disaster for United supporters who are desperate for the Glazers to leave the club as soon as possible. Any prospective owner will want to be in place before the transfer window opens, given the importance of the window to United’s hopes next season. However, the Glazers are in no rush and there is no guarantee that they will decide to sell the club. They could still take a minority investment, which would allow them to raise funds to renovate Old Trafford and the training ground.