US hedge fund Elliot Management have joined the race to invest in Manchester United after a controversial night. Wednesday, March 22 at 9pm was the deadline for bids to go in for the club but there was uncertainty over whether public suitors Jim Ratcliff and Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim got their offers in on time.
It is reported that controlling bank Raine Group - in charge of the process, as they were with the sale of Chelsea last year - didn't receive the fresh bids. It now appears that a new deadline has been given until Friday.
American-based investment compant Elliot did meet the deadline, though, and have reportedly tabled an offer of their own with the desired value thought to be between £4.5-5bn.
READ MORE: Folarin Balogun opens up on outscoring Lionel Messi, Neymar link, Henry and Arsenal future
The Times report that the offer is for a minority stake in the Red Devils after being interested throughout the process. Their offer is different to those of Ineos owner Ratcliffe and Jassim, though, who both want to be the new outright owners of the club.
Elliot have remained public throughout without making a statement of a bid and have also offered to finance other bids. That same money has also been offered to the Glazer family to renovate areas of the club.
The man behind the company is Paul Singer. His worth, according to Forbes, is an estimated $5.5bn (£4.48bn). That has rocketed since 2013 when he stood to be worth around £1.2bn. His company now claim to have over $56bn worth of assets.
His value is comparable to Chelsea owner Todd Boehly. The American businessman is worth $5.3bn meanwhile co-owners Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano - who founded Clearlake Capital - have over $70bn worth of assets.
These are both dwarfed by Arsenal's owner Stan Kroenke. The USA real estate tycoon has stakes in six American sports clubs and franchises, owning over 60m square feet of land. It brings his value to an astronomical $12.9bn.
Whereas Boehly had been involved with sports teams before taking over at Chelsea, Eghbali and Clearlake hadn't. Kroenke had plenty of experience in the field with Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, Elliot themselves have previous in the competitive and lucrative sporting arena.
Elliot helped to finance the takeover of AC Milan nearly seven years ago, a deal worth over £600m, lending around half of that money to the controlling owner, Li Yonghong, at the time but repayment was missed. Elliot then took charge of the Italian champions before selling them on last year for over double the original £600m.
If they were to take over at Old Trafford then it would certainly add to the already immense financial weight behind Premier League clubs. Chelsea's sale is the currently the largest in football history but United would likely break that should they come to an agreement with any of their prospective buyers.
READ NEXT:
Arsenal set for Wayne Rooney meeting after major decision made
Arsenal goal machine in injury blow as statement released
Latest Arsenal injury news as three players to miss Leeds United after Tomiyasu shock
Arsenal's five toughest Premier League matches in title race amid Man City advantage
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta already has solution to Takehiro Tomiyasu injury blow
