What Turki Alalshikh has said about Man Utd takeover amid Bristol City, Sheffield Wednesday and Millwall links | OneFootball

The Saudi boxing promoter, who's been linked with several Championship clubs, has made a cryptic comment about investment into a Premier League club.

The Saudi boxing promoter Turki Alalshikh, who's been linked with several Championship clubs, has made a surprising comment about a far bigger English club.

Quite what the reasoning was behind the comment that he made is a mystery for now, but the Saudi boxing promoter Turki Alalshikh has caused uproar on social media by commenting that investment is coming to Manchester United which will see a change of ownership at Old Trafford.

Alalshikh has been linked with several Championship clubs since it was first reported in May that he could be looking to buy into the game in this country.

It's unclear whether Alalshikh is referring to himself as a potential new owner of Manchester United, but with the Premier League giants in an unhappy place at the moment, he has the connections to have inside knowledge that big changes could be coming to Old Trafford. The 44-year-old, who is an adviser at the Royal Court of Saudi, is also the Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority.

"I hope he’s better than the previous owners" - Alalshikh's cryptic message sends social media into a frenzy

Posting to the social media platform X on Wednesday evening, Turki Alalshikh claimed that Manchester United could be set for new ownership: "The best news I heard today is that Manchester United is now in an advanced stage of completing a deal to sell to a new investor ... I hope he’s better than the previous owners."

The story has been picked up by, among other news outlets, Talksport, who reported that "the post has taken United sources by surprise." They also confirm that "There are no suggestions that the Glazer family or [Sir Jim] Ratcliffe are currently looking to sell their stake in the club."

At present, Ratcliffe owns 27.7% of Manchester United, for which he paid £1.25 billion in February 2024, and he has been overseeing the running of the club since then, with the Glazer family retaining the majority of shares in the club.

The extent of Alalshikh's involvement in any Saudi interest in Manchester United remains unknown

Turki Alalshikh's comments have resulted in a frenzy of speculation concerning a possible takeover of Manchester United, but the extent of Alalshikh's involvement with it is unknown, so it's impossible to say whether this story diminishes the chances of him buying a Championship club or not.

Talksport host Simon Jordan originally said in April that Alalshikh was interested in buying into an English club, but while Jordan stated that he had recommended Sheffield Wednesday to him, his preference was for a club in the south of England, and that he could be interested in Southampton or Millwall.

Nothing has come of either of these connections, but the journalist Alan Nixon reported in September that Alalshikh was interested in buying Bristol City, and that he'd even made a trip to Ashton Gate to inspect the club's facilities and was "preparing a bid" to buy the club.

This, however, didn't go anywhere. Shortly after those reports, Alalshikh took to the social media platform X to deny that he would be moving forward with this in the bluntest way possible: "It is not true that I will buy Bristol City FC." Manchester United are valued in excess of £5 billion (the amount that Sheikh Jassim bid for them in 2024 - an offer which was rejected), so the amount of money required to buy Manchester United would be a whole other order, compared to what would be required to buy any club in the EFL Championship.