Renowned journalist Ben Jacobs has claimed that Manchester United bidders have lost the urgency to complete the takeover, as they will not be able to influence this transfer window.
Last November, Manchester United owners, the Glazers family, announced that they were open to accepting outside investment and even a complete change of ownership. Multiple rounds of bidding have taken place since then, with reports identifying Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim and INEOS’ billionaire owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe as the leading candidates. Ratcliffe would reportedly keep the Glazers on board but with a reduced 20% stake, while Sheikh Jassim is only interested in a 100% takeover.
Manchester United takeover loses urgency as transfer window nears end
The sale was initially expected to be wrapped up by the first quarter of 2023, which would have allowed the owners to take part in the summer transfer window. Now that the transfer window is coming to a close, Jacob feels the frontrunners would not rush to finalize the purchase.
Those close to the sellers of Manchester United insist that Sheikh Jassim’s bid are behind the delays in the sale process.
(@JacobsBen)#manutd#mufc#GlazersOut
— UtdPaper (@UtdPaper_) August 2, 2023
Speaking to Football FanCast, Jacobs said:
“I think that the next step in terms of timescale is less urgent in some ways because this window is not going to be possible to influence and once you can’t influence the summer and because the Glazers have actually spent bigger than expected, whether the groups now we’ll get in this month, next month, the month after, it doesn’t quite make as much difference now.
“Summer is the best time for transition. But, if they get in, in September, October, or November, because the season planning is all done now, bizarrely, time is less important because the time was all dictated and the urgency was all dictated to get in for the summer.”
He added:
“The fact that the groups can’t get in for the summer if any of them are successful now means that they’re almost less panicked about a specific timescale.
“It’s more about just understanding who is genuinely a front-runner in all of this and dropping the games and having the Glazers finally communicate whether they’re going to stay or go and that’s where we’re at.”
Report claims Sheikh Jassim has won Man United takeover race
Over the weekend, English outlet The Sun claimed that Sheikh Jassim would replace the Glazers as Manchester United’s new owners. As per the report, the Qatari billionaire would pay the Glazers $7.63 billion in exchange for the club’s keys, and the takeover would be formally announced in November 2023.
If the sale goes through for the reported $7.63 billion fee, it would become the most expensive sports club acquisition in history. Denver Broncos, which raised $4.74 billion last summer, is the current record-holder.
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