Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus says he is looking to buy a different football club as it 'no longer makes sense' to try and purchase Manchester United.
United have been up for sale for over six months now and the saga continues to drag on, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani the two frontrunners. Ratcliffe is said to have tabled a bid for a majority stake in the club worth around £5billion, while Sheikh Jassim made a fifth and final offer earlier this week for full ownership.
However, both offers are short of the £6billion the Glazer family are after and Zilliacus, who made an initial bid back in March, has repeatedly criticised the sale process and the Glazer's demands.
Taking to Twitter, Zilliacus revealed he is no longer looking to buy United due to the Glazers' asking price. "XXI Century Football Capital believes the price of Manchester United has reached levels where investments no longer make sense," he tweeted. "We therefore have turned our attention to other clubs."
Zilliacus has been rumoured to be interested in buying Champions League finalists Inter Milan, but claims the club is not for sale. "Lately my name has been linked to Inter Milan," he tweeted.
"It is a great club with a fantastic history. The owner has however said the club is not for sale. Let's all respect that and support #Inter in tomorrow's final. I predict a narrow win for #nerazzurri."
Zilliacus was previously chairman of his hometown club HJK Helsinki and had proposed offering supporters the chance to own a 50/50 stake in United with him. "In Scandinavia most clubs are majority owned by fans," he told Mirror Football back in March.
"I really would like to reverse in a way the development taking place in the Premier League. " I've been looking for a long time at how clubs are owned in Europe and it's not to my liking. Nothing against people from other parts of the world but many of these recent acquisitions have been made in a way where it's like buying a luxury yacht or estate instead of a football club and the owners have forgotten about fans.
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"They don't understand the tradition or history of football like we do having grown up here. So I decided to put in a bid where I would involve fans on equal footing. It's not about getting them to put up money - money is available in this world for good projects - but to make them feel part of the club in a genuine way and they are also there for the decision-making."
