Man Utd takeover news: Update expected in ‘coming days’ as Sheikh Jassim ‘conversations’ emerge

The uncertainty surrounding Manchester United’s takeover process could be removed in the coming days, according to reports.

A final round of bids took place six weeks ago, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim submitting offers. However, the latter has followed up with two further bids, and reports this week claim the Qatari delegation proposed a final ‘take-it-leave-it’ offer, amid claims the Ratcliffe approach remains the preferred option by the Glazers.

That bid, it appears, would see United’s current owners retain some stake in the club initially, with Ratcliffe’s Ineos consortium eventually buying the entirety of their shares in the coming years.

The protracted negotiations and discussions have led to uncertainty around United, making transfer plans difficult to construct, but the Daily Mail have claimed that a conclusion ‘is likely over the coming days’.

Meanwhile, journalist David Ornstein revealed that the situation might look less confusing in the next 10 days. “You speak to people and they think maybe 5-10 days there’ll be a clearer picture on this, but I don’t say that with much confidence,” he told  FIVE Insider. “The only thing I do know is that there’s a real desire within Manchester United, one way or another, to be done and dusted so they can get on with what they want to on and off the pitch.

“It’s really hard to decipher where we’re at with this situation, not just from our perspective but from inside Manchester United as well because, truly, only really the Glazers and those in their inner sanctum know the precise detail and plan. Maybe even they themselves don’t know. There’s talk of division amongst the family members over who wants to do what, in terms of the siblings, with the consensus that Joel and Avram would like to stay on and others would like to cash out as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, Ornstein admitted he is unsure whether reports that Sheikh Jassim’s latest bid had a Friday deadline are genuine, or more of a pretence from the Qatari. “When he made the fifth bid I thought ‘well, I thought they had already made their final bid?’. That was the briefing that was coming out last time. Now they’re saying this is the final bid - ‘take it or leave it’.

“The perception across the industry is that it may have been frustration, an exercise in public relations to an extent to say ‘we’ve done our best’. I don’t think they’ve given up completely. Clearly, it seems like there is momentum on the Jim Ratcliffe side.”

Elsewhere, CBS reporter Ben Jacobs has said there have been further talks between the Glazers and Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation.

“There have been, what I understand to be, in-depth conversations and direct conversations between the Glazers and the Nine Two Foundation as well,” he told Give Me Sport.

“All signs point to the fact that the Glazers are actually getting both groups to get deep into this process. If they green-light one of them, they’ll be in a position, transactionally speaking, to move as fast as possible. I think that’s why both groups have been in the dark for so long.”