The Qatari bid to Manchester United appears to have suffered a setback after the club confirmed a third round of bidding would be opened.
Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani is heading a bid to complete a takeover of the club. The Glazers, the club’s current unpopular owners, have pushed back their deadline to complete a sale of the club with the ownership situation at Old Trafford still unclear.
Qatar Sports Investment – who share a direct link to the Qatari state – are likely to increase their investment into Paris Saint-Germain and remain committed to the French club amid interest in buying Spanish team Malaga. It is unclear if this will impact the bid for United – but the prolonging of the bidding process is likely to pour doubt on the situation.
To avoid a conflict of interest, Qatar are hopeful of buying Manchester United through a different investment fund not linked to QSI – which is eyeing investment in Malaga, who are struggling near the foot of the Spanish second division.
The Glazer family are exploring outside investment or a full sale of the club they bought 18 years ago. The Americans are deeply unpopular among the club's fans, with the Red Devils having gone a decade without winning the Premier League title.
Two bids are known to have been made for a full takeover, with the group led by Al Thani battling British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Yet the Ineos owner’s position from the start has been putting off over final decision on buying the club until after the end of the current campaign – knowing for sure if United would be involved in the Champions League next season – and pushing back the date of the sale appears to favour him.
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Qatar are not in such a position and would have preferred a fast sale, allowing them to fully plan ahead of the upcoming summer transfer window and next season. But the longer there is a delay on the sale, the more likely it appears that partial investment – rather than a full sale – will be sanctioned.
Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim still haven’t met the Glazer family’s £6billion valuation - and are understood to both be more than £1billion short of the asking price being demanded. They are believed to be the only parties interested in a full acquisition of the club.
At least two of the six Glazer siblings are understood to prefer an option which would see an outside investor buy a stake in the club to help finance huge capital projects like the redevelopment of the Old Trafford stadium and Carrington training ground. There is thought to be a level of reluctance among the two siblings to relinquish control entirely of United.
QSI want to grow the capacity of PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium, but this has proven problematic as it is owned by the Paris city council. The club are considering moving out of the stadium and buying the Stade de France – home of the French national team – and which has a much greater capacity than their current home.
This means that Qatar’s commitment to PSG remains in place and they are likely to invest more than ever to ensure they own their stadium outright and become more sustainable financially in the longer term. Their interest in buying Malaga is a further signal that United are far from their full focus.
Malaga are owned by Abdullah Al Thani – from the Qatari ruling family and a distant relative of Qatar's previous ruler Sheikh Hamad. Despite initial heavy investment into the Andalusian club after buying them in 2010 – including reaching the Champions League quarter-finals in 2012-13 – their fortunes have plummeted since.
Al Thani’s investment into the club dried up and they slid into chaos. They were relegated from La Liga in 2018 and appear to be set for another relegation this year, into Spain’s regionalised third tier – which could throw their very existence into question.
However, Malaga remain an attractive proposition to investors due to their history, fanbase and potential of being a one-team city. For any sale to be considered, Al Thani would have to deposit €9million to free-up the sale of 51 percent of the club’s shares.
Alongside owning 100 per cent of PSG, QSI has a 21.67 percent stake in Portuguese club Braga – widely recognised as the fourth biggest club in the nation – but it is hopeful of becoming an investor in another European club in continental competition, alongside at least one South American club.
