£47bn group spotted at Old Trafford as the Glazers make major Man Utd sale decision

Representatives of Elliott Management were spotted at Old Trafford during Manchester United’s Europa League game against Real Betis.

On the pitch, United claimed a resounding and much-needed 4-1 win over the La Liga side.

The win was a crucial positive reaction after the club’s devastating 7-0 defeat to bitter rivals Liverpool four days earlier.

However, significant developments also appeared to be happening off the pitch during the Europa League encounter.

According to the Telegraph, on Thursday high-ranking officials from US hedge fund Elliott Management met counterparts from the Raine Group, the merchant bank hired to help the Glazers with a sale of United.

Moreover, the United owners’ financial advisor Rothschild were also in Manchester that day.

Representatives from Elliott were then reportedly at Old Trafford to watch United beat Betis. The discussions marked the start of the second stage of the sales process.

Rather than seeking to buy Manchester United outright, Elliott Management, who have £47billion of assets under their control, have offered to finance any interested parties as well as the Glazers themselves.

Glazers make sale decision

The Telegraph claim the Glazers have pushed back the deadline for a potential sale to the start of June. The United owners had initially hoped to complete a sale by the end of April.

June is thought to be a more realistic time frame to complete any prospective deal.

Furthermore, the Glazers want £6billion for the Old Trafford club, which would make United the most expensive sports team in the world by a significant margin.

However in terms of full takeover offers, United have received two public proposals from Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari Sheikh, Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, both of which have fallen short of the Glazers’ valuation.

Nevertheless, Sheikh Jassim’s bid and Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group will attend detailed presentations at Old Trafford next week to mark both parties entering the next phase of the takeover process.

Topics: Football, Manchester United, Premier League, Real Betis, Europa 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.