Man Utd takeover: Insider claims process ‘could yet go on for months’ but Friday ‘milestone’ expected

There is hope that a new ‘milestone’ in the Man Utd takeover saga will be announced on Friday as an insider claims it could still take months to sort.

The Red Devils set a deadline of April 28 for third, and what was expected to be final, bids for the Premier League club with Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe the two bidders to make their interest public.

However, with confidence growing in the Ratcliffe camp that the INEOS founder’s bid would be successful, Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim launched a fourth bid directly to the Glazer family.

Now the Glazers have to sift through the various offers and come back with their preferred bidder after reportedly valuing the club at around £6billion.

And now Miguel Delaney in the Independent claims that Man Utd bidders are ‘hopeful there will be an announcement regarding a preferred bidder by the close of the domestic season, and potentially as early as Friday this week.’

Delaney adds: ‘Although that is already much later than expected, and will bring some more clarity, sources with knowledge of the situation are describing it as “another milestone of constant milestones” in a process that could yet go on months.’

There is still said to be ‘cautious optimism’ in the Ratcliffe camp that he will be named the preferred bidder and Sheikh Jassim’s fourth offer did not ‘blow Sir Jim Ratcliffe out of the water’.

Despite the latest claims in the Independent that a deal could still take months to finalise, CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs recently revealed that “there are elements of the process that have been completed”.

Speaking to GiveMeSport on Tuesday, Jacobs said: “For both groups, a decision can’t come soon enough. They ideally want to be in for when the transfer window opens.

“Manchester United need that because the recruitment team are planning, but at the moment, they’re unaware whose money they’re spending.

“So, one of the upsides of the way the process has been framed is even though it appears like we’re delayed over a preferred bidder or any clarity as to what the Glazers are thinking, there are elements of the process that have been completed, that would usually come further down the line in a traditional takeover in a period of exclusivity.

“So, a lot of the due diligence, a lot of the questioning, a lot of the logistics, has perhaps been done earlier, in a slightly transactionally backwards way.

“As a consequence, even though we still wait for the Glazers to give the green light to somebody should they do so, once that green light or if that green light comes, then both groups have a lot more in place at this stage of the process to try and complete a deal as quickly as possible.”

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