With Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe having until Wednesday evening to submit their second takeover bids, the battle for ownership of Manchester United is reaching a crucial stage.
Raine, the merchant bank running the process on behalf of the Glazers, has set a 9pm BST deadline for second offers. It is understood that opening bids for the club fell short of the Glazers’ £5 billion-plus asking price.
Sources close to the Sheikh Jassim team said that any revised bid will be informed by the very productive and positive discussions they held over 10 hours with United last Thursday.
Here are the key questions surrounding the Qatari bid for the Old Trafford club.
If Qatar owns Paris St-Germain how can it buy Manchester United?
Although Sheikh Jassim is said to be financing his bid via private wealth, his close family links to Qatar’s ruling elite have raised questions about the source of funds. For years, his father had controlled the purse strings at the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the £370 billion fund which helps to back Paris Saint-Germain through its subsidiary Qatar Sports Investment (QSI).
However, his bid group has repeatedly claimed that the funding for the club is independent of the QIA. Aides last week told United they are confident they will not fall foul of rules prohibiting clubs with the same owner playing in the same competition.
Even if state funding was proven, Uefa president Alesander Ceferin may be willing to turn the other cheek. He said this month that European football’s governing body was considering a rule change that would allow clubs with the same owner to play in the Champions League simultaneously.
How would their regime differ from the Glazers?
After scolding Manchester City for years over their Abu Dhabi ownership, some fans remain uncomfortable with the prospect of Middle East funding. Many others, however, are salivating at the prospect of a debt-free regime, more transfer backing and redevelopment promises – regardless of the source.
The end of the Glazers means the end of leveraged debt on the club. A total commitment – including purchase price – is estimated at £7 billion under the Qataris’ vision.
At the heart of the bid is a promise to end the long-standing uncertainty over how the club would finance a new stadium and training ground, the two of which could cost up to £2 billion. United have appointed master planners for both projects but they are effectively on hold while the club awaits clarity over ownership. United had been favoring redevelopment and
expansion of their existing Old Trafford stadium although that is currently being estimated to be an eight-year project.
Whether a new stadium, built on land adjacent to Old Trafford that the club mostly owns, would be more appealing for a new owner remains to be seen. The club has vowed to keep consulting closely with supporters on what is likely to be a hugely emotional issue.
The Nine Two Foundation has pledged in a press release that it will “invest in the football teams, the training center, the stadium and wider infrastructure, the fan experience and the communities the club supports”.
Who will be in charge should a Qatari takeover go through?
Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, 40, would be expected to be the club’s chairman, with aides insisting he is working independently of his father, Qatar’s former prime minister. Key roles would also be assured for Shahzad Shahbaz, now president of the Nine Two Foundation which would run the club, and possibly Sheikh Jassim’s senior personal advisor Fady Backhos.
Shahbaz has long been associated with Sheikh Jassim, the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank. He was also a key advisor to the sheikh at Al Mirqab Capital, which manages the family’s portfolio of investments in Qatar. After a stint with the National Bank of Dubai, Shahbaz moved to Qatar in 2008 to become CEO of investment firm QInvest, whose chairman was Sheikh Jassim.
Shahbaz is also a former executive at Bank of America which may explain why Sam Powers, a global head at the bank, and Yasir Shah, the managing director there, were also at Old Trafford and Carrington on Thursday. Backhos, meanwhile, would likely have a legal role in the potential running of the foundation. He is senior legal, corporate and investment advisor at Al Mirqab.
Why is there a summer deadline?
Even though the Glazers have yet to choose a bidder to enter into exclusive talks, dealmakers insist a sale can be done within a strict end-of-April target.
One man who would welcome a swift resolution to the takeover process and clarity over the future ownership of the club is manager Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman has done an outstanding job in his first 10 months in charge at Old Trafford, leading United to third in the Premier League table, Carabao Cup glory, an FA Cup semi-final against Brighton at Wembley and a place in the last eight of the Europa League.
Yet Ten Hag knows that there is a lot of work still to do and has placed great importance on the summer window and his hopes of significantly strengthening a squad that remains short of world-class players in several positions.
Ten Hag’s hands were tied in the January transfer window and he is desperate to avoid a situation where a protracted takeover saga potentially compromises plans for the summer. United also have several key players, including Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw, approaching the final year of their contracts and there will be a growing urgency to resolve those situations before too long.
What happened to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s offer?
The British billionaire and main rival to Qatar should not be ruled out despite the Qataris’ confidence. The owner of Ineos, the petrochemical giant, was in talks with his inner circle on Tuesday night and a second bid was said to still be expected by the 9pm deadline.
However, with dealmakers optimistic the Qataris will now meet the Glazers’ £5 billion-plus asking price, Ratcliffe, in contrast, has this week played down the prospect of overpaying.