• The obvious reason is either no bidder has reached the price the Glazer family are looking for, or the family believe they can get more out of those who have bid.
• Sheikh Jassim wants to buy 100 per cent of United, while Ineos want the Glazer family’s 69 per cent shareholding and are happy to leave the rest of the club on the New York Stock Exchange.
Image: XINHUA
It is 176 days since the Glazer family said they were considering selling Manchester United.
The process has been protracted, as you might expect for a potential £6bn transaction, one vocal bidder pulled out after the Glazers’ decision to go to a third round.
“The bidding is turning into a farce,” Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus said.
Zilliacus’ involvement was not exactly been taken seriously by those involved in the process but his words have resonated.
A deadline of 28 April was set for those third bids. Since then, the talking has continued. Now a fourth bid - nearer to £5bn - has been made by one of the leading candidates and many are starting to wonder, what is going on?
Why has this still not been resolved?
The obvious reason is either no bidder has reached the price the Glazer family are looking for, or the family believe they can get more out of those who have bid.
The Glazers bought the club for £790m in 2005 and have established a current valuation of between £5bn and £6bn. It is not clear whether the Glazers are unified in their analysis of the situation. Co-chairmen and brothers Joel and Avram have always been more invested in the club personally but Bryan, Kevin, Edward and Darcie are directors too.
Who is still in the running?
The only publicly known bidders are Qatari billionaire Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos group.
Sheikh Jassim wants to buy 100 per cent of United, while Ineos want the Glazer family’s 69 per cent shareholding and are happy to leave the rest of the club on the New York Stock Exchange.
Elliott Investment Group has revised its involvement from purely offering funding to being prepared to buy a minority stake. The US firm has not said exactly how big a ‘minority’ it is willing to purchase.
What has been offered so far?
Ratcliffe met all three bid deadlines, as did Sheikh Jassim. Initially, Ineos wanted the Glazer ownership, which is around 69 per cent. That has changed and they are now willing to reduce that as long as they stay in control, so 50.01 per cent minimum. That would allow co-chairmen Avram and Joel Glazer to remai investors in the club.
Sheikh Jassim wants 100 per cent control and his fourth bid is nearer to £5bn. There have been other groups, including Elliott Investments and Sixth Street, who have offered to take a minority stake in exchange for funds that could be used to upgrade Old Trafford and the Carrington training ground.
It is thought the Ineos bid still values the club higher but evidently, they would not be buying it all. The view has always been the Glazer family would not settle for less than £5bn, which is twice what Todd Boehly and his consortium spent to buy Chelsea 12 months ago, although they also pledged £1.75m to improve Stamford Bridge.
Will the deal be done before the start of next season?
It should be — however, unlike the Chelsea sale last year — there is no deadline.
The initial feeling was a sale would be completed by the end of March. Then, even taking delays into account, it was expected a deal would be sorted by the end of the season. The March deadline has long passed and there is less than a fortnight to the end of the Premier League season. The transfer window then opens on 10 June.
What does it mean for manager Erik ten Hag?
At the very least, it creates uncertainty. While there are Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules that have to be adhered to - and in their recent second-quarter accounts United’s overall debt stood at almost £1bn — Erik ten Hag knows he needs to improve his squad this summer and the players he wants will not be cheap.
United are desperate for a striker and for the required quality they require, the fee would be enormous. They are also in the hunt for a central midfield player and they also come at a price premium - Borussia Dortmund and England midfielder Jude Bellingham, for instance, would command a transfer fee in excess of £100m.
A much cheaper alternative would be Marcel Sabitzer, who joined United on loan from Bayern Munich in January and whose season has been ended by injury.
Ten Hag needs to know if he could for example sign a striker such as England skipper Harry Kane or Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, plus an elite midfielder, or if he must set his sights lower.
“It’s clear what I want but it’s not up to me,” he said, earlier this month.
When asked what his transfer budget would be, Ten Hag replied: “I don’t know.”
What is the feeling among Man Utd fan groups?
There is no consensus about who should buy the club. Some want Sheikh Jassim, others want Ineos, others would prefer the club to run itself through the revenue it generates. What they seem to be united in is a demand for the Glazers to leave.
Former United captain Gary Neville said this week on social media the Glazers were “making it up as they go along” and need to get out “by the end of May”. Many fans would argue even that would be too long.
United missed out on hosting Euro 2028 games because it could not guarantee Old Trafford would be ready. That in itself is because of the prevarication around improving the stadium, which is likely to cost £1bn.
The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (MUST) called for the sale process to be “concluded without further delay”.
“With Erik ten Hag having made such great progress in his first season, and with the vital summer transfer window a matter of weeks away, the news of these delays and further prolonged uncertainty are of great concern,” MUST said in a statement.
“We are also unable to move forward on major investment projects - not least the stadium redevelopment as we remain in limbo.
“We are in dire need of new investment, which undoubtedly requires new ownership.”
What is the next stage in the process?
The ball remains in the Glazers’ court and Sheikh Jassim’s camp wonder if the family even want to sell.
Until his latest bid, the Ineos side had been confident, feeling his offer to reduce what he wants to buy from the entire 69 per cent of the club owned by the Glazers to just over 50 per cent to allow co-chairmen Joel and Avram Glazer to remain can swing the deal. But there are no certainties.
And if Sheikh Jassim in particular does not complete a deal, could another Qatari attempt to buy into a different Premier League club be successful? That in turn would make it even harder for United to compete for trophies — and cost the Glazers even more in the long-run. The wait for answers goes on.