Man Utd takeover ‘bad news’ revealed as journalist claims buyer cannot alter Ten Hag’s transfer plan

Lewis Oldham 15 Jul 2023 5:14 PM

Man Utd bidder Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

According to Ben Jacobs, if Sir Jim Ratcliffe or Sheikh Jassim gain control of Man Utd, it will not be until the summer transfer window is nearly closed.

The Premier League giants have been up for sale since the end of last year. At the time, the Glazer family announced that they would be “evaluating all options” and a full sale was one possible outcome.

Since then, there have been three official rounds of bidding for the Red Devils, with INEOS chief Ratcliffe and Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim emerging as the most likely candidates to become the club’s new majority stakeholder.

Ratcliffe is willing to keep the Glazer family on board with a reduced stake of around 20%, while Sheikh Jassim is only interested in a full 100% takeover.

It was initially hoped that a deal could be struck in the early stages of 2023 but an outcome is still yet to be reached. Members of the Glazer family are understood to be butting heads over whether they should accept a full sale.

Jacobs is now reporting that if a deal is finalised with Ratcliffe or Sheikh Jassim, they will not have “any influence” until the summer transfer window is about to close.

“The good news for Manchester United is that they have been able to move in the transfer market, which was always the case regardless of any prospective new owner,” Jacobs told GiveMeSport.

“But the bad news for Manchester United, in terms of the long-term clarity, is that the window could potentially close or be very close to closing before any prospective new owner – should they come in – has any influence.”

“That may not impact the plan coming into this window, as far as the current Manchester United recruitment team are concerned, but it’s highly frustrating to both Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe because when they first started this process, they were very much planning around being able to impact this window. Now it doesn’t look like that’s going to be able to be the case.”

Earlier this week, Jacobs revealed that Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim are both under the impression that their takeover is “quite close”.

Jacobs told Football FanCast: “The challenge for each of the suitors that have gone public, Sheikh Jassim and the Nine Two Foundation, is that they may feel six feet from the finishing line, but if their rival is only six inches, then that becomes irrelevant and that’s the sort of situation we’re in at the moment where each group feels they’re quite close, but unsure whether their rival is even closer.

“Then, of course, the Glazers could just move the finishing line further back as well, so there are multiple parties still engaged.”

Manchester United Sheikh Jassim