Sheikh Jassim quitting Man Utd takeover process explained as Ratcliffe closes in

Billionaire Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani withdrew from the Manchester United takeover sage after failing to come to an agreement with the Glazers over the valuation of the club.

The Qatari businessman had been the front runner ever since it had been announced the Glazers looked to be keen on selling United, putting the club on the open market. However, recently, Sheikh Jassim announced he was pulling out of the deal for the club.

He had reportedly offered £5billion-plus as his final offer to the Glazers who were said to want even more, despite the club currently being valued at around £2.63bn. Even though Sheikh Jassim doubled his offer to the Glazers, it is understood that they then made clear their asking price, with sources close to the Qatari businessman describing their valuation as "fanciful and outlandish".

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As a result, that now leaves Sir Jim Ratcliffe as the only publicly declared party seeking to buy United. However, the INEOS owner's bid differs hugely to that of Sheikh Jassim's. The latter was seeking to buy the club, which has been saddled with nearly £1bn of debt by the Glazer's outright, with a cash bid.

Ratcliffe's bid on the other hand is to buy a 25% stake in United from the Glazer's, in a move that would net him sporting control, allowing him to run the club day to day. Of course, that would still leave some United fans feeling bitter knowing the Glazer's ultimately remained in charge at Old Trafford.

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And initially, Ratcliffe had reportedly proposed a stake of 51 per cent, which would make him the majority shareholder at Old Trafford, only for the Glazer's to reject his advances. Should Ratcliffe's revised bid of £1.4bn for 25 per cent of the club go through, then he will also install Team GB cycling hero Sir David Brailsford 'as the football face of the club.'

Brailsford, who is currently the Director of Sport at INEOS and at Ligue 1 owned side Nice, whom Ratcliffe also owns, was part of the initial delegation the British billionaire brought to Old Trafford back in March for talks with the Glazers.

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Speaking back then, Brailsford outlined their reasons for wanting to buy the club, stating: "To be custodians of one of one of the biggest sporting teams, brands, in the world and trying to really support the team and go back to the success they deserve. And also the fanbase.

"I've worked in Manchester for a long time, we saw the team become a global phenomenon, Team Sky have done the same. I know Manchester really well so you get a sense of what the club is all about and what the fans want."

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