Qatar does not trust Manchester United in potential sale agreement

The clock struck 21:00 and nobody knew anything about the bids that were meant to have come in for Manchester United. The time and date of the deadline was fixed, established and agreed upon, but nothing. As such, it was understood that those in charge had whistled for extra-time, something frankly incredible given the size of the deal, although I’d like to see it go to Sheikh Jassim vs Jim Ratcliffe on penalties.

The reality is that during the past few hours leading up to the deadline were absolutely chaotic. Despite the fact that the two parties - Jim Ratcliffe, owner of INEOS and Sheikh Jassim, the third son of the former Emir of Qatar - are still interested, the astronomical price that the Glazer family are putting on the price tag is causing everything to slow down.

A difference in valuation

According to information, the current owners of the club value it at over €6 billion. The price is extraordinarily overvalued, and much higher than where the two main bidders had put down their marker €4.5 billion - but what’s €1.5 billion between friends? This price gap is being seen as a potential ploy by the Glazers to revalue the club.

And there’s more: those in charge of the Qatari bid do not rule out that, if the moment arrives where the Glazers say ‘no’ to the now inferior bid, that they will simply walk away. This would potentially invite a tsunami of fans who are tired of the family who have run the club like a business and not a football institution. Green and gold scarves, at the ready.

Are new bids incoming for the club?

In any case, this Thursday (23 March), an announcement from Sheikh Jassim and Jim Ratcliffe could come that they have improved and fine tuned their bids. According to AS sources, they will be bids made with a cool head and that fit with the market value. This is far from what the Glazers want, a world-record bid. For now, it’s just the €1.5 billion that’s the difference.