Man Utd takeover: David Beckham makes Glazers demand and addresses Sheikh Jassim rumours

Tom Weber

Updated: 13 Oct 2023 09:46 BST
4 min read

David Beckham, Sheikh Jassim, Joel Glazers, the Glazers — © ProShots

Manchester United legend David Beckham believes that it is time for the Glazers to sell.

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It appears that the takeover saga could be nearing its conclusion, but not quite in the manner many expected or had hoped for. Sir Jim Ratcliffe is the favourite to win the race, but the INEOS billionaire won't acquire a majority stake or 100 per cent ownership of the club.

Instead, Ratcliffe will invest in the Red Devils in return for a minority stake believed to be around 25 per cent. Though he will likely try to gradually buy out the Glazers over the coming years, the American owners will remain in firm control of the club for the time being.

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Ratcliffe is set to beat out competition from Sheikh Jassim who has not changed his offer to match that of his British counterpart; he still wants a full acquisition. Recent rumours suggested that Jassim, in the event of a successful takeover, would have brought David Beckham back to Man Utd as an ambassador, but the Inter Miami owner has now denied these reports.

What did Beckham say?

"At the moment there’s been no discussion," he told CNBC. "Obviously, I have a long-standing relationship with Qatar because of my involvement with PSG. Obviously, there’s some connection there..."

"...everybody knows that I’m a Manchester United fan and I’ve been very vocal about the situation at United and that’s been happening for a number of years. I grew up at Manchester United from a very young age and there was a lot of stability – same manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, and same owners."

“Man United will always be Man United, they will always be one of the biggest clubs in the world. Now we need to get back to that for the fans, the players, the coaching staff and the manager because at the moment there’s no stability. We need to get the talk back on the field, rather than off it."

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“I want to see an ownership group that will take it back to what it should be. I’m not saying the past owners have done a bad job because we’ve still been very successful on the field and off the field, but for me, it’s the right time for somebody else to take over.”

“Something is going to happen. I think there will be a takeover, I think it’s the right time. We all have our own opinions on who we feel should take over but in my opinion, it’s whoever cares about the club the most and who can take it back to where it should be.”