Manchester United are facing the possibility of the Glazer family remaining in charge of the club.
In November of last year, Joel and Avram Glazer confirmed they were open to the idea of selling the Red Devils, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani making official bids three months later. No bid has matched the US owners' valuation of the club so far, however.
Yet a third bidder, US hedge fund Elliott Management, are proposing that the Glazers remain in charge of the club, offering to finance any interested parties.
Elliott, who had representatives in attendance for Manchester United's victory over Real Betis in the Europa League, helped finance the €740 million takeover of AC Milan by Li Yonghong in 2017. The US company took control of the Rossoneri later on, when the Chinese businessman failed to make repayments on his €300m high-interest loan. Milan were sold to investment firm Redbird for $1.2bn deal last summer.
"The Qataris and Sir Jim Ratcliffe want to buy Manchester United. Elliott Management don't want to buy Manchester United," Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol claims.
"They are a hedge fund and what they have proposed is financing for any of the parties who are interested in buying Manchester United, or the Glazer family themselves, who own Manchester United.
"I know that would be bad news for a lot of Manchester United fans because they want the Glazers to go, they're hoping that either the Qataris or Sir Jim Ratcliffe buy the club.
"But Manchester United belongs to the Glazers so they can decide what happens next and it is by no means certain that they will decide to sell - even though there are offers on the table that value the club at £4.5bn."
United sit third in the table on 50 points after 26 games.
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Manchester United are looking to capitalise on their resurgence in the transfer market, with big new signings. Victor Osimhen is one option for €100m, Declan Rice is on the radar and Jeremie Frimpong could arrive as a new right-back. More outlandish theories include signing Kylian Mbappe and selling Marcus Rashford to Arsenal.
The Glazer ownership are not guaranteed to sell up – despite bids from lifelong fan, Sir Jim Radcliffe and Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani. Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford has underlined the importance of positive mentality at Old Trafford.
