The Athletic have reported that Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer has held talks with Qatari and Saudi Arabian investors during his trip to the World Cup in Doha.
The recent developments came after the Glazers had decided to put the club up for sale earlier in November.
The report claims that the Raine Group who are United’s financial advisor is looking to sell the club in the first quarter of 2023 with an estimated price between £6 billion and £7bn.
Even though the nature of Glazer’s trip to Doha is unknown, the club co-owner does have other business interests in the Gulf nation.
Despite the recent ownership of Manchester City and Newcastle United, both of whom are owned by groups in the Middle East, United’s financial evaluation could put investors away.
Glazer, however, had earlier mentioned that the sale process of the club was “going forward” during his trip to Qatar.
After watching France beat Morocco 2-0 in the second semifinal of the World Cup, he said, “It’s not necessarily a sale, it’s a process and we’re going forward with the process, so we’ll see what happens. That’s the update, it’s the process and the process is proceeding.”
Even though it is unclear who Glazer was meeting in the VIP or VVIP box at the Al-Bayt stadium, it is believed that the invitees for this section are usually reserved for the Qatari state, FIFA and the governing body’s commercial partners.
Avram Glazer had earlier bought a cricket franchise in the UAE’s T20 cricket league and there have been previous discussions on potential investments in Manchester United after talks with Dubai based investment funds.
It’s interesting to note that the talks come after Saudi Prime Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal had said that he hopes his compatriots invest in United or archrivals Liverpool, the latter who are also up for sale.
About potential investments he said, “I hope so, if there are investors and the numbers add up, and it makes a good business. Then the private sector could come in, or companies could come in, from the kingdom.”
“The Premier League is the best league in the world. Everyone’s watching the Premier League. It’s the most watched league and there are diehard fans of these teams in the kingdom. So it would be a benefit for everyone.”
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