Rio Ferdinand believes that the Qatari bid to buy Manchester United 'won't go any higher' amid suggestions the Glazers still want to raise the club's asking price.
United have been on the market since November 2022 when the club's board announced that they were "exploring strategic alternatives," including a full sale. Nine months later, however, and the Glazer family still rule Old Trafford, understood to be holding out for a whopping £6billion.
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani is the face of the Qatari bid to purchase the Red Devils and was recently installed as the favourite following reports that rival Sir Jim Ratcliffe was losing confidence. Talks between the Glazers, United figureheads and interested parties are ongoing, but Ferdinand reckons that Sheikh Jassim and co won't increase what's been labelled their fifth and final offer.
"I think the Qataris have gone as far as they're gonna go," the former Red Devils defender declared on his YouTube channel, FIVE. This is Ferdinand who last month claimed that Sheikh Jassim's bid had been successful and an announcement confirming his takeover was "imminent."
The ex- England international went on to say in Monday's update: "I think they've gone as far as they're gonna go with the bid. This is them, this is their final offer. It's a kinda take it or leave it-type situation. I can't see it being anything else [other] than that. I can't see the statement being anything else but 'we are here, we're at the table but we're being held back'."
Ferdinand also claims to know the various reasons behind the delay in United being sold to any party. "Things were running quite smooth and it was going down the right path," he explained. "I think the big issue is when you're dealing with a group of people rather than an individual it makes things very complex and difficult at times.
"You're not dealing with one individual with the Glazers. You're dealing with - I think Jim Ratcliffe came out and said it, and I think that's been the issue behind the scenes, I didn't want to be able to come out and say it - but yeah you're dealing with siblings in the Glazer family who are there to make a collective decision.
"I don't think one person can just make a decision on their own. Therefore that makes it very difficult to kind of say yes immediately, just like that. It's a process that they have to go through."
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Ferdinand then affirmed that contrary to some reports, Ratcliffe and his INEOS bid aren't out of the running. "I think that we assumed Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his group were totally out of it but I don't think that's the case," he went on to say. "I think that they haven't been told that they're gone and that they're done in this.
"I think that Sheikh Jassim is obviously there and the Qatari bid is strong, but at the moment it's down to the Glazers to kind of make a decision together and go, 'Right this is what we want to do'. I think one of the problems has been, from what I here, is that some wanna remained involved, some aren't happy with the number and then it's just general negotiations around that as well on on little details."
It's already been reported that Joel and Avram Glazer - United's executive co-chairmen - want to remain involved at Old Trafford, unlike siblings Kevin, Bryan, Darcie and Edward. Ratcliffe suggested that negotiating with six siblings had proven to be an issue during his takeover talks when an extract from a new book entitled 'Grit, Rigour & Humour: The INEOS Story' was published by The Times last week.
"We went to see [the Glazers] and they were charming," the petrochemical mogul revealed. "They are all very nice, despite the press they get... But the club is owned equally by siblings and you can't talk to that many siblings, really."
