Manchester United bidding deadline LIVE: Qatari investors CONFIRM their submission as Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Saudi and American bids are also expected before 10pm cut-off… as £6bn scrap to buy out the Glazers heats up
Host commentator
Host commentator
Gary Neville claimed back in January that a takeover orchestrated by Sir Jim Ratcliffe could ‘make a lot of United fans very happy.’
But he remained critical of the Glazer family, following their 17-year reign at the club that has drawn much criticism from the club’s supporters.
‘The main thing is that the Glazers leave as quickly as possible and the second thing is that whoever takes it over, if they could hand it over to people who are in good hands and have a feeling for the club, that would be great,’ Neville told Sky Sports.
‘Jim Ratcliffe was born in Manchester and knows the area. If he wins it, I think there will be a lot of very happy Manchester United fans. He would want to do the right thing by the club – in fact I am sure that he would.
‘That’s the main thing beyond the Glazers leaving, that they don’t hand it over…I don’t think United can hand it over to another investment firm who are expecting a return on their money.
‘That’s what worries me a little bit about private enquiry coming into football and that ultimately, they are looking for a return on their money and a return on their investment.’
Manchester United’s share price has been rising in recent months ever since the Glazer’s announced they were putting the club up for sale.
In recent days, the club’s share price on the New York Stock Exchange has risen once again, with the value of Man United yesterday going up by a whopping £334m pounds, in a single day.
The share price has doubled since the Glazer family announced the club was for sale back in November.
🗣️ "That is MORE than Saudi Arabia paid for Newcastle United"
Kaveh Solhekol takes us through Manchester United's share price since November 2022 🤑 pic.twitter.com/upAbkT0cd0
The 10pm deadline is fast approaching!
While it appears Qatar have formally completed their bids for Manchester united, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a boyhood fan of the club, is also likely to be submitting his bid to take over at Old Trafford.
The 70-year-old is Britain’s richest man, and has reportedly hired Wall Street giants JPMorgan and Golfman Sachs to advise him on his bid.
The chemicals magnate, who is reportedly worth around £13.3bn, was also in the running to buy Chelsea last year. There he tabled a last-minute £4.25bn offer to purchase the London Club in May.
He was one of the first bidders to announce that he had started the process to buy the football club.
Ratcliffe bought French club Nice for £91m in 2019, two years after purchasing Swiss team FC Lausanne-Sport.
It’s worth noting too that while he is a lifelong United fan, he does have a season ticket at Chelsea.
Qatari investor Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani has confirmed an official bid to take over ‘100 percent’ of Manchester United has been made ahead of the 10pm bidding deadline tonight.
Sheikh Jassim, a lifelong United fan and the Chairman of QIB, one of the leading banks in Qatar, hopes to return the club back to its former glory and ‘fans at the heart of Manchester United Football Club once more.’
The bid will reportedly be ‘completely debt free’ and investments will be made to improve the club’s stadium, training facilities and communities around the club.
In a press release, a spokesperson said: ‘Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani today confirmed his submission of a bid for 100 per cent of Manchester United Football Club.
‘The bid plans to return the Club to its former glories both on and off the pitch, and – above all – will seek to place the fans at the heart of Manchester United Football Club once more.
‘The bid will be completely debt free via Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation, which will look to invest in the football teams, the training centre, the stadium and wider infrastructure, the fan experience and the communities the Club supports.
‘The vision of the bid is for Manchester United Football Club to be renowned for footballing excellence, and regarded as the greatest football club in the world.
‘More details of the bid will be released, when appropriate, if and when the bid process develops.’
A group of Qatari investors are set to make a £5bn bid for Manchester United before the 10pm deadline.
The group are confident they can see off rivals that include Britian’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
SportsMail revealed yesterday that the investors believe their bid could be the strongest.
The bid will raise eyebrows, considering the Glazer family are looking for an investment of around £6bn and £7bn, while initial bids are expected to come in at around £4bn.
It’s been a busy couple of days at the club though who were in action last night against Barcelona in their thrilling Europa League Play-Off tie.
Following a goalless first half, United fans feared the worst when Marcus Alonso opened the scoring. But they struck back straight away through, you guessed it, Marcus Rashford, before forcing Jules Kounde to concede an own goal.
But the English club were held to a draw with Raphina netting in the 76th minute to make the tie 2-2 on aggregate, with the Blaugrana set to square off against United at Old Trafford next Thursday.
Club legend, Paul Scholes lauded his former side’s performance, despite the Red Devils conceding late on in the match.
‘I think they would have been before the game (happy with a draw) but if you look at the way the game went, the chances they created, I thought United were really good tonight, second half especially.’
‘What a game to watch, so exciting. There wasn’t a breath taken, both teams really going for it. A bit of a throwback really when you look at it.
The pundit summed up his feelings on his former side, saying: ‘They look a proper team now. ‘To come to Barcelona, get a result like that is really good and as good as you can expect at this stage.’
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag says his players WILL be following the takeover tonight, following their 2-2 draw against Barcelona in the Europa League last night.
After the match, the Dutchman made it clear his side would still be focused on the football as they prepare for their EFL Cup final match against Newcastle on Sunday.
‘We are following it – it’s our club,’ said Ten Hag. ‘Of course, we are committed but we are focusing on football, on training and our way of play, and games.
‘We are enjoying our togetherness at the moment. It’s really enjoyable to work and we are focusing on games and we are in four competitions. Others in the club will have to make decisions and give efforts in the process, but it’s not up to us.
‘From the start, they (the club) informed me how the process will go. I focus on football, they are focusing on other parts – departments of the club and how to get everything financed.’
Erik ten Hag says he is following Manchester United takeover bid news #ManchesterUnited #TAKEOVER #Qatar #Qatari #bid #Manutd #Eriktenhag pic.twitter.com/bPbAmFuni1
Sealed bids are set to come in from some of the World’s richest people, and as Manchester United are one of the biggest football clubs on the planet, the Raine Group will no doubt have a few offers to sift through.
So, who’s in the running? We’ll go into more detail later on, but in brief, here is who we understand Man United’s potential bidders to be…
Qatari Bidders – SportsMail revealed last week that a group of private individuals want to purchase Man United.
UK Bidders – Sir Jim Ratcliffe, owner of cycling giants Team Ineos, is the first bidder to officially announce his intentions to purchase the club. Ratcliffe, Britian’s richest man is a boyhood United fan and has enlisted several banks, including Goldman Sachs, to help fund his bid.
US Investors – Several groups from the United States have expressed an interest although their identity is yet to be revealed. Tesla and SpaceX owner Elon Musk is known to be monitoring the situation.
Saudi Arabian Consortium – Groups from Saudi Arabia signed confidentiality agreements to enter the ‘data room’ that enabled them to take a look at United’s financial data.
China and the rest of the world – There is also interest from China and Singapore as United have previously targeted the Chinese market, even opening a ‘Theatre of Dreams’ entertainment facility in the country.
Sources close to the sale process have noted that the Glazers may have disagreed over the valuation of the club, which the family had initially hoped to receive between £6bn and £7bn for.
Although, the sale is expected to attract initial offers of at least £4bn.
It’s worth noting that United’s share price has shot up since the announcement, witht eh club now valued at £3bn on the New York Stock Exchange.
A buyer would normally expect to pay approximately 25 percent more than that for full ownership and control, implying a £4bn price tag.
United’s share price has shot up on bid hopes since the announcement with the club now valued at £3billion ($3.67billion) on the New York stock market.
So today is D-Day, but let’s quickly recap on a story that’s been unfolding for several months now.
Back in November, it was announced that Manchester United’s owners, the Glazer family, would be putting the club up for sale.
Having been in charge at Old Trafford since 2005, they have faced much fan unrest after taking dividends out of the clubs finances after saddling the club with debt when they initially took over.
Today marks the first stage of that sale process, with the Glazers hoping to take several bids and formal registrations of interest from potential suitors.
Good evening and welcome to our live blog where we’re counting down the hours until the ‘soft deadline’ for offers for the takeover of Manchester United.
The club are up for sale with the bank facilitating the potential sale on behalf of Man United, the Raine Group, setting a deadline for bids by 10pm UK time.
We’ll be bringing you all the latest news, analysis and updates on the takeover here throughout the night.
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