Saudi Arabia has offered to buy a 30% stake in Manchester United, it has been claimed.
Since February, President of the Islamic Bank of Qatar Sheikh Jassim has been involved in a takeover battle with Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe to buy United from the Glazer family.
And according to a new report from the Sun, the Glazers are expected to confirm the winning method within the next few days, with Ratcliffe reportedly being the preferred bidder.
United insiders have pointed out that the Glazrer family would rather sell most of the control to the British billionaire than hand over the entire club to Sheikh Jassim.
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While Qatar's £5 billion bid for full control was the highest received by the Glazers, Ratcliffe's deal with 50% valued the club close to the £6 billion demanded by the Americans. . If such reports are to be believed, it would put an end to a story that has been going on for months.
Man Utd 'put a price'
United, as one of the most attractive clubs in the world, has long been the subject of interest.
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And speculation about Saudi Arabia buying a stake in the club surfaced in November 2019.
While such takeover rumors ran rampant, United chief executive Richard Arnold visited the country to meet with the country's delegates. The Old Trafford club at the time insisted that the conversations never mentioned ownership and focused solely on sponsorship opportunities. However, last October, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and chairman of Newcastle, announced that he had offered to buy a 30% stake in a Premier club League for £700 million.
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Although the club in question was not named by Al-Rumayyan, The Athletic claim that it is widely believed to be United.
Al Rumayyan told Radio Eight via Newcastle World at the time:
“Why did we choose the Premier League? Because it's the biggest tournament in the world. No other league competes with it. Any of the 20 teams can beat the strongest team.
"Ahead of Newcastle, we had offers from Italy, France and also the UK. An English club offered us 30% for £700m and without any management. .
"Amanda Staveley brought Newcastle to us and said 'We love it so much, we want it to be with you.' The Reuben family came in and said, 'We want to be investment partners. So they have skins in the game.
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