Finnish businessman Thomas Zilliacus has entered the race to buy Manchester United, with a unique proposition to put fans at the heart of the bid.
Zilliacus is a resident of Singapore and has previous experience of owning a football club in his homeland, though that was in the 1980s. The 69-year-old is going up against Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani to buy-out the Glazers.
The deadline for second bids passed yesterday, though there is confusion about whether that deadline has been extended. Here Mirror Football takes a closer look at the latest man to throw his hat in the ring as a potential owner.
Who is he?
Born in Helsinki in 1954, Zilliacus had a brief political career after attending university. He gave up his role on Helsinki's city council when he moved to Singapore to spearhead Nokia's move into Asia.
He had been global head of corporate communications, but stepped up to become regional head of Nokia's Asia-Pacific business. He resigned from that job in 1993 to found the Mobile FutureWorks Group investment company.
He is now executive chairman of that group, investing in several different companies, including OpenMobile. Zilliacus has also held several board and advisory positions, including as an independent director.
United would not be his first venture into sports, with the Finn having been chairman of HJK between 1982 and 1986. He was also an owner of Finnish ice hockey giants Jokerit until the team was sold to Russian investors in 2012.
Net worth
Zilliacus' net worth is not publicly known, though he is not thought to be worth the same as British billionaire Ratcliffe or have the money backing him that Qatari banker Al Thani does.
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Statement in full
”Any sport club ultimately should belong to its fans. The current development, where billionaire sheiks and oligarks take over clubs and control them as their personal playgrounds is not a healthy trend.
“The current market value of the club is just under 3.9 billion USD. That means that if every one of the fans of the club would join in buying the club, the total sum per fan would amount to less than 6 dollars. My bid is built on equality with the fans.
"My group will finance half of the sum needed to take over the club, and will ask the fans, through a new company that is being set up for this specific purpose, to participate for the other half. If every fan joins it means less than 3 dollars per fan.
"Each fan who joins will have access to an app which the fan, from anywhere in the world, can use to participate and cast his vote when deciding on footballing matters relating to the club. No decisions will be taken that are not supported by a majority of the fan base.
“Manchester United should not only be the best football club in the world, it should also be the leading club in the world in working to stop abuse, racism and hate speech in social media and on sports grounds.
“Should we be successful in our bid we will ensure that Manchester United, the best football club in the world, will operate on a foundation of respect, equality, dignity, diversity, racial harmony and democracy, and with its global fan base included and involved in all decisions."
