Any sale of Manchester United football club will now be pushed back until June, if it happens at all, according to reports.
The Red Devils were put up for sale in November, alongside fellow footballing giants Liverpool, and it had been expected that a deal for the club would be completed by April, with no shortage of interest.
So far, Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe have emerged as the two leading contenders for the club, having met the soft deadline for the opening bids to be made in February.
However, it remains unclear whether the Glazers will be able to sell, with the shareholders thought to be split on the decision, and more keen to receive outside investment than to complete a full sale.
Meanwhile, the Telegraph report that ‘the Americans want at least £5 billion to sell but it is thought the offers from Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe currently fall short of that valuation’, adding a further stumbling block.
That price would make the club the most expensive sports team in world history, and would leave the Glazers turning a handy profit after buying Manchester United for £800m in 2005.
The second phase of the sale process has begun, which entails a more thorough look at ‘more detailed financial information and the chance to closer examine Old Trafford and the club’s Carrington training base, both of which require substantial investment.’
Any sale, therefore, will come closer to the summer transfer window opening than April, as had first been hoped, with the report adding that ‘June is now considered a more realistic timeframe should the Glazers receive an acceptable offer’.
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