Manchester United remain clouded by uncertainty at the end of the season after the board reportedly failed to agree upon a preferred bidder during a meeting this week.
The protracted takeover process is now in its 187th day, with the Glazer family taking their time in deciding on whether they want to sell the club they have owned since 2005. The American family announced on November 22 that they were beginning a process to “explore strategic alternatives” for the club.
INEOS billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani have emerged as the two leading candidates. Sky News reports that the United board met on Thursday to discuss the takeover, but left having not agreed on giving one of the candidates a period of exclusivity.
Ratcliffe remains the leading candidate, but the Glazers are not in a rush to move the process forward and no decision is expected before United’s final game of the season against Manchester City in the FA Cup final next weekend. Instead, they are keen to wait for further proposals, despite the impact that the current period of uncertainty might have on the club.
Manager Erik ten Hag has admitted he is in the dark over the ownership going into an extremely important off-season. Meanwhile, the fans are growing increasingly irate with the Glazers, who have been hugely unpopular owners ever since their debt-leveraged takeover 18 years ago.
Ratcliffe’s offer is understood to value United at between £5-£5.5billion, which is still well short of the Glazers’ £6bn valuation. The INEOS billionaire is willing to let Avram and Joel Glazer keep some shares and remain involved in the club.
The uncertainty is impacting the club’s plans for the summer transfer window. Asked recently if he knew how much he has to spend this summer on new players, Ten Hag said: “No, I don’t have influence on that, I don’t have and also I don’t know.
“The only thing I know is that Manchester United is one of the biggest clubs in the world, one of the biggest two or three from a fanbase perspective.
“The club has to compete for the highest in the world - the Champions League and Premier League. But in football you need funds to construct squads because, at end of the day, the level of your players decides if you are successful or not.
“Everyone knows you need funds to construct a squad and high level players cost a lot of money. That’s the situation nowadays in top football.
“I think it’s clear what I want, but it’s not up to me. It’s about others in this club. The family are the owners, they make the decisions, it’s not up to me. I do everything I can and I influence the processes that I’m in charge of.”
