The Glazers not ready to give out club as they step in with huge demand for Sir Ratcliffe and Qatar

After months of speculation, interest from Qatar, the United States, and the rest of the Middle East began to heat up this month. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a British billionaire, was the first to publicly express an interest in purchasing United.

Raine Group, which is handling the sale of United on behalf of the Glazers, then gave potential buyers a soft deadline of 10 p.m. on February 17. Official bids were then made public on Friday, with the first being made by Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani.

This was followed by a new proposal from Ratcliffe, the CEO of INEOS, with both bids valued at £5 billion. However, that is still a massive £1 billion short of what the Glazers are asking for on a full scale, and The Sun claims they are unwilling to accept anything less.

“It’s still unclear whether the Glazers want to sell, and if they do, it will only be for top dollar,” an insider said. It’s possible that they’d prefer a partial sale rather than a full one at this point, as that would increase the club’s value.

“It’s clear that they want to maximize their profits by selling at their preferred price or not at all. Nobody is discounting the possibility that they will simply decide that none of the bids are anywhere close to what they want and call it off, hoping that market conditions will change in their favor in a year or so.”

Ratcliffe and Al Thani may soon be joined in the bidding for United by a third party. Elliott Investment Management, a US hedge fund, is reportedly considering a bid for United.

The company is said to manage around £46 billion in assets, but it’s not clear if they’re looking for a full takeover. Both Avram and Joel Glazer are said to be interested in staying at Old Trafford.

It has been suggested that they could buy out their four siblings’ shares to gain complete control.