Journalist Fabrizio Romano has revealed that the Glazer family are prepared to “fight” to ensure they sell Manchester United for potentially as much as £7bn.
What’s the latest on the Glazer family and the Man Utd takeover?
While it’s known that both Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari-linked Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani have tabled bids for the Premier League club, it remains unclear if either party will be able to complete a takeover.
Recently, it was reported that the Glazers may not actually be looking to sell after all are instead only interested in finding a minority investor to come on board.
Amid all this speculation, Romano has stated the a sale could still happen but the current owners are not prepared to sell for anything less than what they deem is the club’s true value.
Speaking on The United Stand, he explained (0:56): “They want around six, seven billion to sell Manchester United. And the offers are not at that level yet, from Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and also from the Qatari group with Sheikh Al Thani.
“The proposals are still not at that level. And this is why I think we have these rumours. So I think the intention is to get that money, otherwise they are prepared to fight in the negotiation.
“So this is the current state of the of the story. But the discussions are still ongoing, the story is 100 percent open.”
“And so I’m not here to say that everything is closed for Manchester United sale, but everything is absolutely on, the conversations are on. Of course, different kinds of bids are needed to buy Manchester United. This is the reality now. But there is still enough time.”
What does the latest takeover news mean for Man Utd?
Seeing as Man United look to be on an upward trajectory under new manager Erik ten Hag – who of course just led the club to their first major trophy in six years – the Glazers may feel as though the value of their asset is on the rise.
As per the Financial Times (via The Sun), however, it has been calculated the club are worth only £1.3bn. This is certainly a long way short of the £6bn-£7bn quoted by Romano as the current asking price and is still far below the “at least £5bn” touted by Sky Sports as a possible selling fee.
What’s more, reports state that Man United’s share price dropped 9.6 per cent on Monday, going down 17 per cent in a week, wiping almost $1bn (£820m) off the club’s value.
With that in mind, it remains to be seen how much exactly either Sir Jim Ratcliffe or Sheikh Al Thani value the Red Devils and if that would come close to meeting the Glazers’ expectations.
Taking it all into account, it certainly feels as though a fair amount of negotiating will have to take place between all involved parties before we reach a resolution regarding this possible takeover.
For now, though, it feels like it could go in just about any direction.