Man Utd takeover: Jassim’s three reasons for refusing to pay £6bn; Glazer’s stance on new bid emerge
According to reports, Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim is refusing to increase his Manchester United takeover bid in response to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s modified offer.
Man Utd have been on the market since last November but it remains to be seen whether the Glazer family will sanction a full sale.
There have officially been three rounds of bidding over the past few months and Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe have emerged as the most likely candidates in the race to oust the Glazer family.
Sheikh Jassim has consistently insisted that he is only interested in a 100% proposal, while Ratcliffe is in the process of modifying his bid.
The British billionaire was also chasing a majority takeover to start with, but he is now reportedly hoping to gain a 25% stake in Man Utd before taking full control in 2026.
It is understood that these two proposals are worth around £5bn, but the Glazer family are understood to be holding out for £6bn.
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The Times are now reporting that ‘the Qatari group bidding for Manchester United will not increase their existing offer of £5 billion despite the threat posed by a new deal being tabled Ratcliffe’. The report adds.
‘This week it emerged that the Glazers were considering Ratcliffe’s offer of £1.5 billion for a 25 per cent stake as part of what could be a staged takeover at Old Trafford. One insider close to the process has described the British billionaire’s proposal as “feasible”.
‘However, sources close to the Qatari group being led by Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad al-Thani say that the news of Ratcliffe’s restructured bid — he had initially offered to buy the 67 per cent stake belonging to the Glazer family — amounts to another pressure tactic designed to make them increase their bid.
‘While the Glazers value United at about £6 billion, the Qataris remain convinced the price is too high and are standing by their offer of £5 billion for a 100 per cent purchase: not least because Erik ten Hag’s side are badly misfiring on the pitch, the debt stands at about £1 billion, and the Old Trafford stadium and training ground remain in dire need of modernisation.’
Man Utd legend Gary Neville recently explained why he “feels very sorry” for Erik ten Hag.
“I feel very sorry for the manager, I know a lot of people will say he’s got to do a lot better, and that’s fine, he’s the Manchester United manager, but there are a lot of big problems at the club that managers have found over the last ten years,” Neville said.
“I think until those problems are solved we’ll still continue to see underperforming teams, underperforming players, it’s become a graveyard for coaches and players – it’s not too strong a term.
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