Sheikh Jassim withdraws from Manchester United takeover race
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani has withdrawn his offer to buy Manchester United after viewing the Glazer family’s valuation of the Premier League giants as ‘fanciful and outlandish’.
Final discussions between the club and Sheik Jassim were held this week, but their final bid, thought to be around £billion, was still someway short of the Glazer’s demands.
The Qatari offer was to acquire 100 per cent of the club with promises to invest in Old Trafford and the club’s training facilities while also backing them in the transfer market and clearing their considerable debt.
The Glazer’s Valuation
The Manchester Evening News reported that Sheik Jassim ‘desperately’ tried to convince the Glazers to sell the club in one final push. However, their astronomical valuation, which was most recently reported to stand at £10billion, finally ended their interest with Sheik Jassim showing no interest of acquiring a minority stake.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is now close to wrapping up a deal for a 25 per cent stake in the club. Ratcliffe’s proposal will see him acquire 25 per cent of the club (Picture: Getty).
David Beckham’s Take
Speaking earlier this week, David Beckham made it clear that he was keen to see a change in ownership at United.
‘At the moment there’s been no discussion of that, but everybody knows that I’m a Manchester United fan and I’ve been very vocal about the situation at United and that’s been happening for a number of years,’ Beckham told CNBC.
‘I grew up at Manchester United from a very young age and there was a lot of stability – same manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, and same owners. Man United will always be Man United, they will always be one of the biggest clubs in the world. Now we need to get back to that for the fans, the players, the coaching staff and the manager because at the moment there’s not stability. We need to get the talk back on the field, rather than off it. I want to see an ownership group that will take it back to what it should be. I’m not saying the past owners have done a bad job because we’ve still been very successful on the field and off the field, but for me it’s the right time for somebody else to take over.’
What’s Next?
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is now close to wrapping up a deal for a 25 per cent stake in the club. Ratcliffe’s bid means that the Glazers still keep a stake in United but the bid is expected to be the start of a full takeover.
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