Man United’s UAE consortium takeover bid: the facts so far | OneFootball

Ever since Manchester United were taken over by the Glazers in 2005, the ownership of the club has been a hot button topic.

History of takeover

Protests, outrage and green and gold scarves became commonplace as United fans showed their displeasure with their new owners.

20 years later they are still at the helm but at the end of 2023, chemicals company INEOS secured a minority stake in the club.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and company take the football decisions and they have made sweeping changes at all levels of the club.

That is not to say that the new owners are universally popular however, as many have complained about their cuts to staff departments and point to failed decisions like the appointment of Dan Ashworth.

Nonetheless, this has not put an end to takeover rumours and the last couple of weeks have seen the rise in news headlines about a mystery takeover bid from the United Arab Emirates to wrestle total control of the club away from the Glazers.

Who are they?

A consortium of investors based in the United Arab Emirates are said to be organising themselves to launch a bid to buy the club.

The Guardian reports that, “the consortium is still being put together as it seeks the finance to firm up its interest in buying the club before it can approach the six Glazer siblings, who collectively are ­United’s majority owners.”

Interestingly, the UAE‑based group is “intent on ­having prominent former United players as ambassadors as part of this process.”

Therefore, they have already made approaches to the likes of Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Wayne Rooney to be the global face of the bid.

It is said they have a preference for Beckham based on his global fame and reach.

Possible links to Manchester City

Football365 report that, “any UAE-based consortium looking to buy Man Utd could have links to arch-rivals Man City, according to a football finance expert.”

UAE and former Citizens financial adviser Stefan Borson has claimed that, “I’ve not looked deeply into the parties that might be involved from the UAE, but we know that both Saudi and the UAE have investments in so many related businesses within the countries that many things can be not just related party transactions but can be associated party transaction.”

Glazers name their price

It has also been reported that the Glazer family would be open to a sale if an offer exceeding £5.2 billion was made, over double the club’s current value on the stock market.

Next steps

The reality of a takeover is still a complete unknown as the current process is still cloaked in mystery.

Should some names who belong to the consortium be made public or an ambassador is officially appointed, then the wheels could begin to get into motion in the near future.

Featured image Michael Steele via Getty Images

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