Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s bid for Manchester United is now “dead” in the water, according to Bloomberg journalist David Hellier.

It is believed that the structure of the 70-year-old’s deal, which would have seen the British billionaire buy out the club’s majority shareholders could have left the club vulnerable to being sued by the remaining “minority” stakeholders. Hellier told United View:

“The minority holders are slightly aggressive funds in mainly the USA but also some in the UK, and I was told that they have made it absolutely clear to the Manchester United board via a letter that was sent: ‘If you recommend this offer which prejudices us, gives us no offer at all, that we end up with discounted shares while the Glazers get everything, we will sue’.”

“I was then being told by the Man United side that the three independent directors (of the club) will never ever sanction or recommend that bid under these circumstances with this threat. So either sort out the threat, restructure the bid, or talk to the shareholders and get them to say what they want and how they can get around it or it’s finished. So essentially, I was told by the sources that Ratcliffe’s bid is dead. So we’ve only got one proper bidder, which is the Qatari bid.”

That may seem like great news for Sheikh Jassim and Nine Two Foundation’s offer but that is not necessarily the case.

Jassim’s offer is still not high enough for the Glazers to sell United

Even though the Qataris have now made five separate bids for the Red Devils, Hellier says that their current proposal does not meet the Glazers’ expectations.

The journalist goes as far as to say that the two sides are “a long way apart”, which raises concerns about a takeover taking place in the short term.

From the sound things, there is very little prospect of a deal being agreed over the next few weeks, unless either Jassim raises his bid once again, or the Glazers relent and decide to sell the club for the $6.5bn (£5.14bn) that is on the table.