How Man Utd could have lined up under Sheikh Jassim

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 15 Oct 2023 13:02 BST
• 4 min read

Sheikh Jassim has pulled out of the race to buy Manchester United. The team he could have put together is out of this world.

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani is no longer in the running to buy Manchester United. The Qatari royal has withdrawn from the process after seeing a bid of nearly £7 billion ignored by the Glazer family.

The path is now clear for a 25 per cent bid from Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the INEOS chief and formerly the UK's richest man, with a structure that would leave the Glazers in control.

READ: Qatari Sheikh Jassim WITHDRAWS from Man Utd takeover process after Glazers snub

United were busy in the summer window irrespective of ownership, bringing the likes of Rasmus Hojlund and Andre Onana to the club, but the transfers might have gone up a notch under Jassim…

Man Utd under Sheikh Jassim?

United had a £120m transfer budget this summer, but Jassim's bid would have cleared all debt and potentially opened up a significantly bigger budget.

The most obvious difference between Jassim's Man Utd and otherwise might have been in the final third. Whilst Hojlund has made a promising start to his Old Trafford career - three goals in two Champions League outings augur well - it is still understood the 20-year old is a work in progress.

READ: Victor Osimhen issues social media statement in response to Napoli TikTok scandal

Victor Osimhen remains at Napoli, but after a run-in with their social media team, it seems only a matter of time before he moves to one of Europe's biggest clubs. That might have been United if they could they had the financial muscle.

It seems an open secret that Kylian Mbappe will join Real Madrid on a free transfer at the end of his current contract next summer, meanwhile, but Paris Saint-Germain were desperate to offload him for big money before that. United might have been one of the few clubs who could have turned his head, even temporarily.

Further back, Frenkie de Jong is a long-time transfer target of Erik ten Hag's, and the Dutchman could also have been reunited with another of his former Ajax charges in Matthijs de Ligt.

De Jong's Barcelona are in financial dire straits, but on the field they are doing better than United as it stands. De Ligt has been dropped by Bayern Munich, and that would have presented an opportunity.

Achraf Hakimi and Jan Oblak are among the other big names to have been linked with United in recent months, the former a good friend of Mbappe's at PSG and the latter a safer pair of hands than Onana, who has dropped some clangers.

United remain on of the biggest brands in the game, and an attractive destination for many a player despite being without a Premier League title in 10 years, but with Jassim behind them, they would have had Man City-like finance, and how they might have flexed might play on the mind of many a Red Devil in light of the latest news.