Full sale only? The only appears possible by leaving Manchester United to fall under state ownership. Allowing the Glazers to squat in Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s house is a sacrifice worth making…
Third and final offers have gone in for Manchester United. Now what?
The Friday night deadline set by the Glazers as they attempt to squeeze Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe one last time was met by both bidders. The current owners, enabled by Raine Group, have pushed as hard as anyone might reasonably allow. So now we wait.
One of three outcomes is most likely. The one favoured by many United fans, certainly the shoutiest on social media, is for a full sale to Sheikh Jassim and whoever is pulling his strings. They want it to be known they they have submitted a proposal for the club in its entirety, one worth around £5billion that would set a new world record for the purchase of a sports club, beating the sale of the Denver Broncos for £3.8billion, but still short of the £6billion that the Glazers would accept to f*** off.
Ratcliffe appears to be offering a place for the Glazers, a couple of them at least, in his vision for United. The Manchester-born billionaire wants control – that’s important – but some things are beyond even billionaires. Ratcliffe would struggle to meet the Glazers’ demands for them to promise never to darken United’s door again.
Then there is the third, almost unthinkable option: nothing changes. The Glazers stay in charge, they continue to leech off the club and wait while their asset appreciates, despite the abject lack of investment on the owners’ part. They could yet accept offers of help with that, if they choose implement ‘the nightmare scenario’ by selling only minority stakes to investment groups.
Almost six months into the process, the only thing that is clear is that there are no perfect options – at least to anyone but the wilfully blind. Everyone with United at heart must decide what they are willing to compromise.
Morality? That, sadly, would be the price to pay if those cheerleading for Sheikh Jassim get their way. Make no mistake, a victory for the Sheikh would be a victory for Qatar. The Red Devils would become the third stealth state-owned club in the Premier League – a prospect that must not be allowed to become a reality.
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