Manchester United's prospective takeover continues to rumble on, having taken a fresh twist with the Glazers considering minority investment in the club as well as a full sale.
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe are both hoping to either buy the club outright or purchase a controlling interest. However, several US investment funds including former AC Milan owners Elliott Investment Management, Carlyle Group, Ares Management Corporation and Sixth Street Partners have emerged as contenders to buy a minority stake in United.
That would allow the Glazers to remain in charge, with the family currently owning a majority shareholding of 69 percent in the club. When they originally announced United was up for sale in November, the Glazers did note that they would "consider all strategic alternatives, including new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions".
However, the Guardian claim that Sheikh Jassim is confident his bid to buy United outright will be accepted. The Qatari businessman revealed back in February he intends to make a "completely debt free" purchase.
A statement read: "The bid will be completely debt free via Sheikh Jassim's Nine Two Foundation, which will look to invest in the football teams, the training centre, the stadium and wider infrastructure, the fan experience and the communities the club supports. The vision of the bid is for Manchester United Football Club to be renowned for footballing excellence, and regarded as the greatest football club in the world."
April 28 is the deadline for a third round of bidding and the Manchester United Supporters' Trust (MUST) have criticised the Glazers as the process continues to drag on. "When it was announced in November that the Glazers were undertaking a 'strategic review' and inviting offers to buy the Club, MUST welcomed the news and went on to urge the majority owners to move ahead with the process with speed, so that any period of uncertainty was as short as possible," they said in a statement.
"Nearly five months on, we read speculation that offers from prospective buyers remain below the Glazers valuation, and that a third round of offers will now be invited. With Erik Ten Hag having made such great progress in his first season, and with the vital summer transfer window a matter of weeks away, the news of these delays and further prolonged uncertainty are of great concern.
"Erik needs to know what resources he has to spend so he can make the signings the Club needs, and the whole management resources of the Club need to be focussed on supporting him in that. That cannot be the case with the future ownership so unclear.
"We are also unable to move forward on major investment projects - not least the stadium redevelopment as we remain in limbo. We are in dire need of new investment, which undoubtedly requires new ownership. MUST, along with United fans all around the world, are calling for this process to be concluded without further delay."
