UNITED DEBACLE

Sale hopes fade as new bids fall way short of Glazers’ £6bn valuation

THE Qatar bid for Manchester United will finally land today — but it will still be way short of the Glazers’ valuation. Amid claim and counter-claim, Wednesday night’s ‘soft’ deadline descended into farce before it emerged that neither the Sheik Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani group nor Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos team had lodged bids, despite their claims to the contrary.

Both were given extra time by Raine, the US bank running the process. The Ineos bid went in yesterday and that of Sheik Jassim is expected today. Both offers are thought to be around the £5billion mark.

However, while either would easily break the world record sum for buying a sports club, the Glazers are seeking much more. Insiders say that the Americans expect ‘well above £6billion’.

If the Glazers refuse to budge, the likelihood of a full sale going through is minimal. Indeed, there are growing concerns that those seeking to buy the club are wasting their time. Such a standoff would leave the door open for offers of partial investment.

Yesterday, Elliott Investment Management, the former owners of AC Milan who had offered funding to potential bidders, lodged their own proposal for a minority stake. They were one of a number of groups that were given presentations in Manchester and were thought to be so impressed that they decided to make their own offer.

It remains to be seen whether the Glazers seek a full sale or take a minority offer, such as that now made by Elliott. Wednesday’s debacle has done little to ease tensions in what is an increasingly fractious process.

The new deadline for bids is this afternoon. Those involved in the process expect to hear back in about seven days. However, there is a feeling that their bids may not be deemed high enough and both Sheik Jassim and Ratcliffe could be out of the running by the next stage.

Yesterday, a Finnish entrepreneur claimed he had lodged a bid for United. In a public statement, Thomas Zilliacus said he wanted to purchase half the club — and would rely on the one billion United fans reportedly around the planet to pay about £3 each for the other half. Sources with knowledge of the process disclosed that it was not being taken seriously.

LMANCHESTER UNITED have been charged by the FA over their players surrounding referee Chris Kavanagh in Sunday’s fiery FA Cup quarterfinal win over Fulham. They were appealing for handball after Kavanagh had awarded a corner when Willian blocked Jadon Sancho’s shot on the line.

Kavanagh changed his decision after checking the pitchside monitor and sent off Willian.