Man Utd takeover: 'Zero chance' of Sheikh Jassim making improved bid

James Shearman

• Updated: 18 Oct 2023 20:46 BST
• 3 min read

There is 'zero chance' that Sheikh Jassim returns with an improved takeover bid for Manchester United.

"Very much hoping this does not come back to bite me," said Mail Sport's Mike Keegan. "But I asked this exact question to someone involved in the process yesterday. Their response? 'Zero chance'."

Jassim recently withdrew from the race as it appears that the Glazers are opting to take Sir Jim Ratcliffe's offer instead.

REVEALED: Jim Ratcliffe's plans for January transfer window already in place

While the Qatari was hoping to take complete control of the club, for £5.5 billion, Ratcliffe's offer is £1.4bn for a 25 per cent stake.

The Englishman is expected to take charge of football operations at Old Trafford, which the Glazers have little to no interest in.

There have already been suggestions that Ratcliffe will hire former Manchester City youth player Paul Mitchell as the club's new sporting director.

Why Sheikh Jassim is out of Man Utd takeover race

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano revealed: "The Glazers said 'no' to the final proposal of Sheikh Jassim, restructured by his team in recent days. He structured the proposal with a very clear intention: to offer more than $6 billion for Man Utd, so it was something around $6.5bn from the Qatari family.

"Also, $1.5bn to be invested immediately, so $6.5bn to the Glazers, $1.5bn to the club, into structures, into training facilities, into the stadium, into new signings also. So, something to invest almost immediately to help Man Utd and to restart the process with a new owner."

"After spending seven and almost eight months in negotiations with the Glazer family, the feeling of Sheikh Jassim and those close to him was that there was nothing to do, the Glazer family were not prepared to sell Man Utd at their conditions.

"They believe it's incredible because Sheikh Jassim is convinced that he was the dream owner, he was going to clear all the debts at Man Utd."