Manchester United sale: Eight offers could be made as Wednesday deadline approaches | UK News

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani, chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS are believed to be preparing second offers.

By James Robinson, Sky News reporter @journojames


Tuesday 21 March 2023 00:53, UK

It is understood that up to eight offers could be made for Manchester United before Wednesday’s deadline for second offers.

The Glazer family will definitely sell the club, but only for the right price: its valuation is believed to be £6bn.

If the sale price is not met, the owners will raise capital to invest in the club and pay off the debt.

It is believed that Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani, president of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), will make a second offer for manchester united after their representatives visited the Premier league club last week.


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Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani

British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, via his chemical firm INEOS, is also expected to make a second offer for Manchester United next week after visiting the club on Friday.

The INEOS delegation spent six hours at the club’s Old Trafford stadium and its Carrington training ground, with meetings ending around 4pm that Friday.

Various other interested parties have also visited the club over the past two weeks, with more bidders likely to visit this week.

Based on the level of first-round bidding, there are no favorites at this time, though one could emerge after Wednesday night’s deadline.

It cannot be ruled out that the Glazers could retain control of United by agreeing to a minority deal, with the team’s performance improving dramatically and a new strategy now in place.

Sir Jim has hinted that they will not overpay for Manchester United.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Sir Jim said: “How do you decide the price of a painting? How do you decide the price of a house? It is not related to how much it cost to build or how much it cost to paint.

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“What you don’t want to do is pay stupid prices for things because you regret it later.”

However, Ratcliffe, who already owns French club Nice, said his interest in United would be “purely to win things”, calling the club a “community asset”.

Ratcliffe, 70, was pictured outside Old Trafford after meeting club executives, unlike Sheikh Jassim, who had not personally visited Manchester the day before.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe visits Old Trafford

But sources in the US say talks last Thursday in Manchester between Sheikh Jassim’s Qatari delegation and United executives were positive.

His advisers are now working on putting together a new offer, which is expected to be submitted at the close of business on Wednesday.

It was previously understood that Qatari bidders were determined not to pay more than the club expected, but that stance has softened in recent days, coinciding with a delegation visit to Old Trafford.

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A Qatari delegation traveled to Manchester from London by train and received a warm welcome. The talks took place for 10 hours, much longer than expected.

Sheikh Jassim and members of his team had been to Old Trafford as fans before, and the aim of this visit was to gain insight into what they could do with their capital investment in infrastructure, youth development and the women’s team.

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