As the night drew to a close on Friday (28th), Manchester United's auction extravaganza drew to a close. British media have been reporting that a Qatari consortium has made a final offer to fully acquire Manchester United for a whopping 5.5 billion pounds (about HK$54 billion). If the takeover is successful, they will spend a huge amount of money to renovate the Old Trafford stadium, upgrade the training equipment, and plan to massively expand the squad, with the first target being the signing of Brazilian soccer superstar Neymar.
Since the announcement of the sale of Manchester United by the Glasha family in November last year, a host of buyers from the Middle East, the United States and the United Kingdom have thrown in the towel. A consortium led by Qatari banker Sheik Al Thani and Britain's richest man, Ratcliffe, are seen as favorites. Despite two rounds of heated offers, the Glasha family was still not satisfied with Sheik Al-Thani's £5 billion (HK$59.2 billion), while the US tycoon's family went straight to a sky-high price of £6 billion (HK$59.2 billion).
Sheikh Al-Thani has upped his offer to 5.5 billion pounds in the final stages of the bidding process, promising to help United pay off all of their debts and planning to rebuild the Old Trafford stadium, upgrade their training facilities, and acquire a star. The latest news is that Sheikh Al-Thani is interested in acquiring Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), which is also controlled by Qatari capital, as a "kick-off" for his takeover of United.
However, the Glasha family is wary of the offer from the Qatari consortium. On the one hand, the offer has not yet reached the £6 billion target; on the other hand, they would like to retain some of their shares and continue to maintain influence in the club. In contrast, the offer from Ratcliffe, Britain's richest man, to buy more than 50% of Manchester United and allow the Glasha family to retain a 20% stake seems to be more in line with the Glasha family's expectations. For United fans, they certainly want the club to be sold as a whole, free from the control of the Glasha family. As for the fate of the Red Devils, it may not be revealed until the end of the season.
