Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani’s bid to take over at Manchester United may have taken a huge twist, The Sun reports.
What’s the latest Manchester United takeover news involving Jassim?
Jassim made a revised Red Devils offer alongside Sir Jim Ratcliffe last month and was thought to be confident of sealing a takeover from the Glazers despite interest from Ratcliffe and the Finnish businessman Thomas Zilliacus.
The Qatari group leader even appears to be planning a first transfer move, should he take control at Old Trafford, with reports suggesting he is a ‘huge fan’ of Jude Bellingham and is plotting a stunning swoop for the Borussia Dortmund midfielder.
However, it seems as if there may be an off-field twist when it comes to Jassim’s attempts to take control, which may come as a blow as he was previously hoping to get things done quickly in order to support manager Erik ten Hag in the transfer market.
The Sun shared a story in the last 48 hours, claiming that senior Government officials have concerns about Jassim. They state that the reservations are related to a £1.4m fine handed out to Qatari Investment Bank’s UK unit by the Bank of England in 2016 for violating capital financial rules that left the bank exposed to high levels of risk.
The report states that it may well prove to be a major turning point and label it as a huge twist in the takeover process, with Jassim the most likely to meet the Glazers' valuation.
Will the Glazers sell?
There could still be plenty of twist and turns when it comes to a potential sale by the Glazers, who appear to be at odds over whether to sell or not. Reports have suggested that Avram Glazer doesn’t want to sell up, whereas Joel Glazer could be persuaded to cash in, while the other four siblings are in favour of selling at a big profit.
The revised offers are still thought to be below the Glazers’ asking price of around £6bn, with the bidders waiting to hear from Raine Group, the U.S. bank working with the Glazers.
Journalist Ben Jacobs believes that ‘suitors expect to hear back from Raine Group this week and get clarity on the next step of the process’. An extra stage of bidding could even be on the cards, so it could be a busy few days in the takeover process.
