Friday is the first deadline set by the Glazer family for potential buyers to submit their Manchester United purchase proposals. Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the PSG chairman, also runs Qatar Sports Investment (QSi), and is among the potential buyers of the Old Trafford club.
Al-Khelaifi’s organization belongs to the Qatari government and is in charge of investing in sport. After the 2022 World Cup, Qatar’s goal is to seek new opportunities in the Premier League. Tottenham was mentioned before and for a few weeks United’s option is also a real possibility.
The issue is that UEFA regulations prevent two teams from the same owner from playing in the same competition, so QSi would make it impossible for psg and Manchester United to play each other if it belonged to them. The only way it would work would be for one to play in the Champions League and the other in the Europa League or Europa Conference League, but that’s still unrealistic.
Qatari bidders interested in United
Solutions to this problem are sought. One is that QSi does not buy the whole club, but part of it. Another is for QSi to take a stake. This has already been done recently by acquiring 20 percent of Sporting Braga in Portugal. There is also the option of the QIA (Qatar Investment Authority) making the offer. In theory it is a different entity than QSi, although the maximum member and head in both cases is the same person: the Emir of Qatar.
Private investors in the Qatari royal family are considering making the offer. In this case, Al-Khelaifi would have nothing to do with it, although being a high-profile football person with in-game contacts, he is likely to be contacted for advice and help.
Ratcliffe a potential buyer
Jim Ratcliffe, the owner of INEOS, is another candidate to buy the famous club, although his arrival would have to be partly financed by banks and that is something that the club’s supporters are not enthusiastic about.
The other alternatives that are also emerging are US funds and one that would involve Saudi Arabia. The Glazers are said to have put a starting price of more than 6 billion euros, an amount that buyers, including Qatar, consider too high. According to them, the market price would be well below that, approximately 4,000 million euros.