Former Kosovo president Behgjet Pacolli interested in buying Man Utd

FT Desk

• 30 Nov 2022 22:11 GMT
• 3 min read

The former president of Kosovo, Behgjet Pacolli, has revealed his interest in buying Manchester United from the Glazers.

Pacolli served as the second president of Kosovo from 22 February 2011 to 4 April 2014.

He is also a billionaire and a successful businessman, being the major shareholder of Swiss-based construction and civil-engineering company Mabetex Group.

READ MORE: How much are the Glazers selling Man Utd for?

A football fan, Pacolli recently attended an Arsenal match at the Emirates Stadium when the Gunners beat Leicester in August.

And asked by reporters on Wednesday whether he was interested in buying Manchester United, Pacolli responded “okay”.

The Glazer family have formally put Manchester United on the market after nearly 18 years of ownership.

The ownership has been met with resistance from sections of the United support from the start, with £500 million (€5.79m) of the £800m (€926.7m) needed to buy the club in 2005 borrowed money.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who currently owns French outfit Nice, and David Beckham, a United legend who now runs Inter Miami in the MLS, are among those to have been linked with bids for United, and the asking price is eyewatering.

The owner of petrochemicals giant Ineos [Ratcliffe] will now table a fresh approach," report the Telegraph. "Although he is wary about overpaying as insiders suggest the Glazers are looking for a price in excess of £5 billion (€5.8bn)."

Behgjet Pacolli to buy Man Utd?

Pacolli, 71, has now put his own hat into the ring. He has a net worth of €1 billion, according to Forbes, but has a lot of powerful and rich associates in both the Kremlin and in Washington. One of his pinned posts on Instagram is a video of him with former U.S president Donald Trump.

Pacolli also served as the first deputy prime minister of Kosovo and was the minister of foreign affairs from 2017 to 2019.

He also the president of the New Kosovo Alliance, which is the third biggest political party in Kosovo.

Pacolli also has a past as successful hostage negotiator. He negotiated the released of more than 25 hostages under the Taliban in Afghanistan between 2004 and 2007.