Manchester United are preparing themselves for a third takeover from bid Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman after rejecting a £3 billion offer.
The Red Devils have reportedly already rejected two previous multi-billion bids from Bin Salman, but the Crown Prince isn’t ready to give up the just yet and is widely expected to make a third attempt to buy the club in the coming days.
The Glazer family have owned United since 2005 and repeatedly stated they have no intention of selling the club under any circumstances, with the club remaining the family’s prized asset along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
However, the situation at the club may be more fluid than it first appears. Sponsors of the club have become increasingly frustrated at United’s poor performances on the pitch, with Chevrolet refusing to renew their 450 million sponsorship deal, causing the club’s share prices to plummet.
And with Kevin Glazer already attempting to cash in his 13 percent of Utd shares on the New York Stock Exchange, Bin Salman is looking to exploit this inter-family tension in order to swoop up the club from under the Glazer’s noses.
Should he succeed in his takeover attempt, Bin Salman, who has a personal fortune of over £7 billion, would immediately become one of the Premier League’s richest ever owners. Bin Salman’s £7bn can only be beaten by the owners of Manchester City and Chelsea. Sheikh Mansour, an Emirati royal, is worth a staggering £23.3bn and tops the list ahead of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich with a net worth of £9.6bn.
Whether United supporters, who have poured much scorn on City’s middle-eastern millions over the years would be receptive to such a takeover remains to be seen, although the Glazer’s have been consistently unpopular amongst the club’s fanbase throughout the entirety of their time in charge. Financial experts predict that in order for a takeover bid to be successful, Bin Salman would have to cough up at least £4bn in order to turn to Glazer’s heads. Whether he actually will though remains to be seen.
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