Man Utd takeover: Sheikh Jassim waiting for response on bid for Premier League club

Sheikh Jassim is still waiting to hear back from Raine, the bank who have been appointed by the Glazer family to sell all or part of Manchester United, Sky Sports reports.

Five months into the process, and five weeks until the transfer window opens, there has only been one bid to buy the club in full which is from the Qataris.

Sheikh Jassim is focused on buying Manchester United but he has no transfer targets for the summer window if his bid for the club is accepted.

A week after submitting his third and final bid for United, Sheikh Jassim’s bid team have drawn up plans about how they would run United but their focus on investment has not included identifying any transfer targets.

Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s bids are below the £6bn asking price but both bids are a massive premium on the club’s market cap on the New York Stock Exchange at the moment – £2.5bn. The bids are both believed to value United at close to £5bn.

As Sheikh Jassim is the only bid on the table for 100 per cent of the club, he will not be bidding against himself. Ratcliffe’s bid would buy only just over 50 per cent of United’s shares, leaving the Glazers with a minority shareholding of around 20 per cent, and still exerting a degree of influence over matters at Old Trafford.

Ratcliffe’s potential deal would not be welcomed by large sections of United’s support who have campaigned for the Glazers – whose leveraged buyout in 2005 plunged the club into huge debt – to quit Old Trafford.