Elon Musk 'closely monitoring' Man Utd sale with rival bid 'imminent'

Elon Musk is monitoring Manchester United’s takeover situation “closely”, according to a fresh report.

In November Man Utd owners the Glazer family announced they were exploring “strategic alternatives” for the club that could result in a sale.

While interested parties have been given a soft deadline of February 17 to make their first proposal, there has so far been one public declaration for the Old Trafford club.

Last month British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who owns the petrochemical company Ineos, publicly announced he would make an approach for Man Utd, who he has supported his entire life.

While there have been no other public approaches for the club, it has been widely reported that a Qatari bid will be launched before Friday’s deadline.

The Glazers reportedly want some £6billion for the club, which be a world record fee paid for a sports team.

Is Elon Musk interested in Man Utd?

The Mail Online claims that Tech-billionaire Musk, who Forbes rank as the second richest man in the world, is “monitoring the situation” at Man Utd closely and “wondering if there is an opportunity at Old Trafford”.

While associates of Musk refused to give comment to the Mail Online regarding the Twitter owners’ possible interest in Man Utd, sources close to the deal are allegedly aware of his attention.

Last summer the South African, who boasts an estimated fortune of £157billion, sent Twitter into meltdown by claiming he wanted to buy Man Utd.

The 51-year-old tweeted: "To be clear, I support the left half of the Republican Party and the right half of the Democratic Party! Also, I'm buying Manchester United [you’re] welcome - Elon Musk."

Within six hours the tweet garnered more than 500,000 likes, only for Musk to clarify: "No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I'm not buying any sports teams.

"Although, if it were any team, it would be Man Utd. They were my [favourite] team as a kid."

Qatari bid imminent

According to Bloomberg, Qatari investors are set to make an offer for Man Utd in “the coming days”.

The Qatari consortium is allegedly preparing to submit a bid for the Old Trafford club before the Friday deadline.

Indeed the publication claims that officials of the Qatar Investment Authority, the Gulf country’s sovereign wealth fund, are readying to place a bid alongside local family offices.

Yet given Qatar Sports Investment’s ownership of Paris Saint-Germain, any Qatari move to buy a majority stake in Man Utd will have to come through private individuals or a different organisation.

This is because any two clubs participating in a UEFA club competition may be directly or indirectly controlled by the same entity, meaning that Man Utd would not be able to compete against PSG in the Champions League should both teams be owned by the same party.

Topics: Football, Manchester United, Premier League, Qatar, Erik Ten Hag

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.