Manchester United fans hoping for more clarification on the takeover process were kept waiting last night – as should have been expected all along.
A ‘deadline’ for bids was supposed to pass at 9pm on Wednesday. And after some initial confusion, it appears an extension has been granted.
Sky News report Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani is ‘fine tuning’ his bid for Manchester United.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe‘s Ineos group are also preparing a second offer. These are both expected to be above the early £4.5 billion indicative offers for the club submitted last month.
Deadline extended
The Mail report no firm timeframe has been set for the extended deadline. The process is quite clearly a flexible one, given the arbitrary deadlines put in place in the first place.
The process is being conducted by The Raine Group and representatives of Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe personally visited Old Trafford last week.
So there are communication lines established, and this is evidently a fluid process, with huge sums of money being discussed.
Whatever the eventual price Manchester United are sold for, it will be a world record for a sports team, above the £3.7 billion price paid for the Denver Broncos last year.
The offers are expected to be around £5 billion, and are still likely to be submitted formally later this week.
The Mail report: “Sheikh Jassim remains committed to the bid and confident of success.”
This process is certainly testing the patience of Manchester United supporters, desperate to see the back of Glazer ownership. But after waiting 18 years without any real hope of a buyout, we appear to be edging closer to a new era.
There are other minority offers also in the mix, but it is expected the Glazers will sell to the highest bidder.
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