Manchester United have received a fifth - and final - bid from Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani for control of the club.
A protracted takeover process has seen Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe compete to buy the club, which was put up for sale by its owners the Glazer family last year. Multiple reports on Wednesday claim he has submitted a new, improved bid, and has set himself a deadline of Friday for his efforts to take over at Old Trafford.
At the end of this week, it is said that he will end his attempts to buy United. Sheikh Jassim has previously submitted bids that would see him take full control at United, promise to redevelop Old Trafford and put money into the club's foundation.
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Ratcliffe, meanwhile, wants to acquire shares that would see him complete a full buy-out of United's current owners after three years with a £5billion offer. Whether or not Sheikh Jassim is successful in his attempts to buy United will have an impact on Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs have been the subject of intense takeover talk since the turn of the year with the American firm MSP Sports Capital said to be interested in a move for the club. MSP Sports Capital now look set to take control of Everton after they confirmed their Premier League status last month.
It was claimed by ESPN journalist Mark Ogden recently that Sheikh Jassim could move for Spurs if their approach for United ends in failure. "Somebody told me recently, they said that if the Qataris don't buy Manchester United, they'll be back and they might end up buying Tottenham," Ogden said.
"He said, look, if you've got Manchester City owned by Abu Dhabi, you've got Newcastle owned by Saudi Arabia, if Qataris maybe buy Tottenham, then you've got three clubs who can pull away. Every year, it would be United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal fighting for fourth spot, which is quite a terrifying prospect for (them)."
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