Interested parties have been told they have ten days to submit their second takeover bids for Manchester United.
Negotiations are ongoing over the potential sale of the Premier League side and the bidders will this week meet face-to-face with the club’s senior figures for presentations, while taking a tour of the Red Devils that will include visits to the training ground and Old Trafford.
Representatives from the approach from Qatar, fronted by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, will meet with the club on Thursday, before Sir Jim Ratcliffe – owner of Ineos and considered Britain’s richest man – will visit on Friday.
According to the Mail, each bidder will take individual assessments on the investment required in terms of infrastructure before submitting a second bid to the club’s current owners, the Glazer family.
However, the Guardian say the Qatari offer is the favourite to succeed. The Glazer family believe a deal with the Qataris could open up potential business opportunities with the Gulf nation, while the Americans ‘have not yet warmed to Ratcliffe’. Ratcliffe’s approach is for 69% of the Glazer’s stake, while al-Thani is pursuing a 100% takeover.
Other unnamed parties are interested in a takeover and the successful bid will be chosen following this week’s round of talks. It remains to be seen how UEFA view the takeover race, amid rules regarding multi-club ownership in European competition. Ratcliffe’s Ineos own France’s Nice and Switzerland’s Lausanne, while there have been reservations of al-Thani’s bid for United given the Qatari ownership at Paris Saint-Germain. Al-Thani has insisted that he is independent from Qatar Sports Investments, who have owned PSG since 2011.
UEFA president, Aleksander Ceferin, said recently that there could be a change to the rules forbidding multi-club owners.
