Sheikh Jassim, Ratcliffe both expected to make ‘second Man Utd bids’ after ‘positive talks’

Jason Soutar
Prospective Man Utd owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe outside Old Trafford

Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani is planning to make a second bid to purchase Premier League giants Man Utd later this week.

The Qatari banker and British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe are both leading the race to buy the club from the Glazer family.

Both were at Old Trafford last week for negotiations with Man Utd executives and lodged an initial bid in February.

Sheikh Jassim’s Qatari delegation visited Manchester last Thursday and talks were ‘positive’, according to Sky Sports.

A new bid is being put together, the report states, and will be made on Wednesday evening.

There have been some doubts over the Glazers’ desire to sell the Red Devils, though it is believed now that they are willing to make it happen.

The Glazers’ valuation has been reported to be somewhere in between £5-7billion.

After being reluctant to pay ‘over the odds’, Sheikh Jassim has ‘softened his stance’ following last week’s talks at Old Trafford.

Those talks apparently took up to ten hours, which was ‘a lot longer than expected’.

‘The focus of the visit was to get a perspective on what they could do with their capital investment regarding infrastructure, youth development and the women’s team’, the report states.

The Qatari’s second bid would not have come without the extra ‘understanding’ gained from the trip to Manchester, which was not attended by Sheikh Jassim himself, but by ‘his top team of experts in finance, banking, property and law’.

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It is added that Ratcliffe is also expected to make a second offer to buy Man Utd.

Ratcliffe’s INEOS delegation were at Old Trafford for six hours during talks last Friday.

His second bid is expected to be made next week, the report adds.

The 70-year-old also owns French side Nice, where he flew in from to personally attend negotiations with Man Utd executives.

On Ratcliffe being at Old Trafford when Sheikh Jassim was not, Sky Sports chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol said: “It’s an interesting contrast with Sheikh Jassim.

“Sir Jim was happy to be filmed and photographed, and it was significant that [Man Utd CEO] Richard Arnold was there to greet him when he arrived, shaking his hand and being photographed then too.

“It gives you another sense that maybe the Glazers are serious about selling Man Utd.

“This was a high-powered delegation from INEOS, he was there with the two co-owners, Andy Currie and John Reece. Sir Dave Brailsford, who used to be the director of cycling at Team Sky – he’s now INEOS’ director of sport and he was there too.”

Meanwhile, Nice midfielder Aaron Ramsay has hailed the “very passionate” Ratcliffe for his desire to take the Ligue 1 club “all the way to the top”.

“It’s been quite nice, really enjoyable. there’s worse places in the world to be playing,” the new Wales captain said.

“The owner is very passionate and very invested into Nice.

“He wants to take Nice all the way to the top.

“It’s a great project to be a part of. It just feels like a family-oriented club.”

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