Sheikh Jassim will “no longer engage” with Manchester United if he does not hear back about his fifth and final bid for the club by Friday, according to CBS Sports reporter Ben Jacobs.
The journalist claims the Qataris have offered $6.5bn (£5.2bn), plus another $1bn (£800m) in investment, and they are now awaiting for a response from the Glazer family:
The latest offer went in earlier this week and is understood to be circa $6.5bn, with $1bn of pledged investment on top.
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) June 7, 2023
It is claimed that the offer is straight cash, and would wipe out the club’s debts. Sheikh Jassim and the Nine Two Foundation believe it is a more than fair proposal as the bid is way above the value of the club based on the current share price.
Considering the Glazers did not respond to the Qatari’s fourth offer, it remains to be seen how they will react to this new proposal, as well as the hard deadline that has been set.
The Glazers have kept bidders in the dark
Up until now, it is thought that both Sheikh Jassim and his main rival Sir Jim Ratcliffe have not been kept informed by the United board about the bidding process.
This latest offer from Qatar appears to have been borne out of frustration with how long negotiations are taking. It was widely assumed that a takeover would be completed before the summer. However, things have dragged on much longer than expected.
It has been reported that a split among the six Glazer siblings, about whether to sell, has led to the sale process grinding to a halt.
How will it impact United’s transfer business?
The Red Devils do appear to be pressing ahead with plans to sign players, based on their interest in the likes of Chelsea’s Mason Mount, West Ham’s Declan Rice and Napoli’s Kim Min-Jae.
However, it is hard to know whether the current board will rubber-stamp any official bids for players with the ownership situation still unresolved.