Manchester United 'sale' at 'advanced stage' as shock takeover claim made

Cryptic social media post hints at major Old Trafford developments coming soon

The Glazer family sold a stake in Manchester United and handed over control of football operations to Sir Jim Ratcliffe last year

Manchester United via Getty Images

Matt Verri

2 minutes ago

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Turki Al-Sheikh has claimed that Manchester United are at an "advanced stage" of negotiations with a new investor.

In a post on social media, Saudi Arabia sports chief Al-Sheikh hinted that there could soon be some big news coming out of Old Trafford.

He also seemingly took a dig at United's majority owners, the Glazer family, and Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

"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," Al-Sheikh claimed.

The Glazer family rejected a takeover bid from a Qatar consortium led by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani last year, when they ultimately sold a 27.7 per cent stake in the club to INEOS founder Ratcliffe for £1.25billion and handed over control of football operations.

It is unclear as to the identity of the "new investor" Al-Sheikh refers to and how realistic a fresh takeover approach is.

In an interview this week, Ratcliffe spoke of his long-term plans for United, insisting that Ruben Amorim needed “three years” to prove how good a coach he was.

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He also explained the two rounds of redundancies he has overseen, which helped cut losses from £113.2m to £33m. United also generated record revenues in the last financial year.

"The costs were just too high," Ratcliffe told The Times' The Business podcast.

Takeover claim: Turki Al-Sheikh says Manchester United are close to selling to a new investor

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"There are some fantastic people at Manchester United but there was also a level of mediocrity and it had become bloated. I got a lot of flak for the free lunches, but no one's ever given me a free lunch.

"There are two halves to a football team - there is the business side and the sports side. The biggest correlation, like it or not, between results and any external factor, is profitability. The more cash you have got, the better squad you can build.

"If you look at our results for last year we have the highest revenues ever. Profitability, the second-highest ever. Those numbers will get better.

"Manchester United will become the most profitable football club in the world, in my view, and from that will stem, I hope, a long-term, sustainable, high level of football."

United are believed to be in talks with Al-Sheikh and Saudi Arabia over a lucrative mid-season friendly.

As a result of failing to qualify for Europe and exiting the Carabao Cup second round at the hands of Grimsby earlier in the campaign, United's midweeks are largely free this season.

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Al-Sheikh is looking to add a major football event to the schedule of Riyadh Season, which will already include the WWE’s Royal Rumble, a tennis event involving the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, and several high-profile boxing cards.

According to the Daily Mail, United could feature in the Riyadh Season Cup and face a potential reunion with Al-Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

That would potentially bank them £10m, while a one-off exhibition match in Saudi Arabia could earn the club £5m.

It would still leave United a long way short of making up for the £100m shortfall for losing the Europa League final last season and missing out on Champions League football.

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