"Smoke and mirrors..." - Journalist drops major Man Utd sale news ahead of deadline as likely outcome revealed

A journalist has dropped a major update regarding the sale of Manchester United.

In November the Glazers announced they were exploring strategic alternatives for the club, that could result in an outright sale.

Thus far, Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim and British petrochemicals billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe are the only two parties to have publicly submitted an offer for a controlling stake in the club.

Yet, it has since been claimed that Joel and Avram Glazer are hoping to generate funds to buy out their other four siblings.

Indeed, ESPN alleged last week that at least four investment groups were looking to offer the brothers minority investment.

However, with a third round of bids due on Friday, CBS reporter Ben Jacobs insisted that a full sale was the most likely outcome.

Man Utd sale update

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT Jacobs claimed that it was likely the Glazers would sell United, and that a potential takeover could move "quite quickly".

Jacobs said: “A full sale remains the most likely of the options. At this point, it is fluid because we are a matter of days away from the final deadline, and I expect things to move with clarity and quite quickly in the early or middle part of May.

“If The Glazers choose to sell the football club, then both Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe want to get in as soon as possible because they know how beneficial it will be to have the keys to the club for the time the transfer window opens. So, we're seeing a stage of clarity as the process concludes.

“But we're also seeing a lot of gamesmanship whereby competitive tension is being driven because The Glazers, regardless of what they do, want the highest possible price, and both minority investors and outright groups still all have to value the club.

“So, for the outright bidders to think that The Glazers might go in one direction and for the minority investors to think a full sale is more likely, all ultimately makes groups feel like they might have to go up in their valuation ahead of the final offers.

“That’s what we see at the moment. It’s a lot of smoke and mirrors.”

Topics: Football, Manchester United, Transfers, Premier League

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.