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Featured Image Credit: Getty/PA
Topics: Football, Manchester United, Premier League
Chris Byfield
One of the Manchester United bidders is “confident” their takeover attempt will be successful.
The Old Trafford club have been up for sale since last November when the Glazer family announced they would be “exploring strategic alternatives” with a full sale among the possible outcomes.
Since then there have been three rounds of bidding for United, with petrochemicals billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim emerging as the most likely candidates to become the club’s majority shareholder.
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Ratcliffe is looking to keep the Glazer family on board with a reduced 20 per cent stake, while Sheikh Jassim has made a bid for a 100 per cent takeover of the club.
It has initially been hoped that the situation would be resolved in the early part of this year, while it seemed unthinkable in November that question marks regarding United's ownership would exist beyond the 2022/23 campaign.
Indeed, it has been widely reported members of the Glazer family are butting heads over whether they should accept a full sale.
Sheikh Jassim confident of Man Utd takeover success
Despite delays in the Glazers coming to a decision, Bloomberg claimed in a financial report that the Qatari group is “confident it’s the favourite” in the race to buy United.
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Yet whichever party’s bid is successful, their immediate plans will have been compromised by the delay.
Indeed, prominent journalist Ben Jacobs told GIVEMESPORT that even if a deal is finalised with Ratcliffe or Sheikh Jassim, they will not have “any influence” until the summer transfer window is about to close.
“The good news for Manchester United is that they have been able to move in the transfer market, which was always the case regardless of any prospective new owner,” Jacobs said.
“But the bad news for Manchester United, in terms of the long-term clarity, is that the window could potentially close or be very close to closing before any prospective new owner – should they come in – has any influence.”