Man United sale descends into chaos as Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe bids ‘withheld’

The process to sell Manchester United has been thrown into chaos as the bids from frontrunners Sheikh Jassim Bin Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe have reportedly been withheld.

Earlier in the week, it was announced that all revised bids have to be made before 9pm on Wednesday night.

According to talkSPORT, parties who are interested in buying a small stake in United met the deadline.

However, a source close to the Raine Group, who are leading the sale on behalf of the Galzer family told the media outlet that the two frontrunners, Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe’s formal bids were not submitted.

But it has been reported that a deadline has been granted for both and new bids are expected to be made by the end of the week.

Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe are the only two parties to have publicly declared their desires to purchase the Old Trafford club.

Both made a first bid in the region of £4.5 billion, which is way short of the £6 billion asking price set by the Glazers.

During their visit to Old Trafford, Ratcliffe and his Ineos representatives were described as impressive and sophisticated in their approach.

However, Britain’s richest man did say he will not pay over the odds for United.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Ratcliffe said: “Our interest in that club would be purely in winning things.

“How do you decide the price of a painting? How do you decide the price of a house? It’s not related to how much it cost to build or how much it cost to paint.

“What you don’t want to do is pay stupid prices for things because then you regret it subsequently.”

The Qatar-based group led by Sheikh Jassim are believed to be in pole position as their offer is to buy 100 per cent of United and they also vowed to clear all historic debts.

Who will win the race to buy United? Only time will tell.