Manchester United are closing in on announcing their next owner as the long battle between Sheikh Jassim and Jim Ratcliffe reaches a dramatic conclusion. After months of offers, deadlines and waiting, the Glazers are said to have made their choice.
Having announced that they were willing to welcome offers for the club, described as 'exploring strategic alternatives' there were quickly two favourites for the takeover. Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani - Sheikh Jassim - and INEOS billionaire Ratcliffe.
The latter has been keen on buying an English club for years after taking over Nice and the Team Sky cycling team. He also made a late attempt to hijack the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital takeover of Chelsea.
Coming after months of uncertainty in which there have been numerous final deadlines, it is said that the fifth bid from Sheikh Jassim is set to be the winner of this war and therefore the preferred bidder would soon be named. It is said that Jassim - a relatively unknown quantity with questions over the source of his wealth and links to the Qatari state - is about to enter a period of exclusivity once an announcement is made.
He is bidding for 100% of the Red Devils whereas Ratcliffe is looking for a 60% share which could keep Joel and Avram Glazer on board. It has left Erik ten Hag in a state of flux as he plans for big-name and big-money transfers this summer. “No, I don’t have an influence on that, I don’t have and also I don’t know," he said.
“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.
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“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 the 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, and it’s not up to me. I do everything I can and I influence the processes that I’m in charge of.”
He will be keen for this to be sorted so that he can start getting to work on bringing in players such as Mason Mount and Victor Osimhen this summer as well as Harry Kane. These are all players linked with Chelsea and Arsenal throughout but the massive wealth of Jassim, who has links to the Qatari Prime Minister Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani - his father - could give them the upper hand.
Jassim is a member of the Qatari royal family but is far less known than his father, who has been involved in running Paris Saint-Germain after being the former chair of the Qatari Investment Authority that owns the club. Sheikh Jassim has ensured that he is separate to this entirely as UEFA rules dictate that an individual cannot own more than one club in the same competition.
When it comes to his worth, personally Sheikh Jassim doesn't have a reported value but his father does. According to Forbes this is $1.2 billion (£892m). That, for an owner of one of the biggest clubs in the world, is a relatively middling tally. However, the family are said to have a collective worth of £275 billion.
This is a number that blows even Stan Kroenke and his Sports and Entertainment empire out of the water. The American businessman is worth £11.8 billion ($14.9bn) with stakes in LA Rams, newly crowned NBA champions Denver Nuggets as well as a host of other sporting franchises.
Boehly, though, is worth much less and has a net worth of just £5.2 billion ($6.4bn) despite being enterprising in LA Lakers and LA Dodgers.
As Manchester City and their financial power, as well as PSG's massive spending and the emergence of Newcastle as a Premier League force have been shown, even the richest Americans cannot match the funds coming in from the Middle East and United's big decision is a word of warning for London's top sides.
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