A bid to buy Manchester United is breaking the bank

They say that with 322 million fans, it is the club with the most fans in British football and the second in the world. Its history is full of vicissitudes. From its inception, when it was founded on April 24, 1902, because its predecessor, Newton Heath LYR, went into liquidation and had to be taken over by a group of Manchester businessmen who gave it its current name. In 1958, a plane crash after a European Cup match claimed 23 victims of the expedition, including 8 football players. And United had to be reborn. His heyday of greatest brilliance will begin in the mid-eighties, when Sir Alex Ferguson becomes a permanent coach. The legend was in charge for twenty-seven years, during which he won 13 of his 20 Premier League titles and two of his three European Cups. After his departure, the Red Devils entered a dry season in which they only entered the Europa League as a major success in 2017, and now they are trying to emerge by selling the club. An operation that can break the bank: 6000 million pounds (about 7000 million euros) is the figure that the two super rich people who are competing for the company’s assets seem willing to give: Qatari Sheikh Jassim bin Hammad al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the owner of Ineos .

In this way, the Glazer family would double the investment from 18 years agowhen he paid 1.080 million euros for the Mancunian Empire in 2005.

His landing in England from the United States was not well received by the Reds fans, who have continued to disapprove of his management of the club over the years. Malcon Glazer came to Manchester from American football, where he owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise. “Manchester United fans make fun of him, the current manager doesn’t like him, the press considers him cannon fodder and the man clearly lacks class,” Guillem Balagué, a journalist specializing in English football, wrote at the time, referring to the tycoon.

But the 3.81 euros he paid per share came to avoid any kind of sabotage by hooligans. Until the lack of results and the constant pressure led the American billionaire to put the club up for sale.

Applicants for purchase

There are two applicants. First, Jassim bin Hamad al Thani is the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank (BIQ), which is the second largest financial institution in the country. This sheikh is the son of a former high government official and a cousin of the emir’s father. This relationship could be an inconvenience for the English club to obtain, as it may violate Article 5.01 of the UEFA competition, which states that “to guarantee the integrity of the UEFA club competitions (ie the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League) and the UEFA Europa Conference League)”, no entity or individual can have a shareholder or management relationship in two clubs. The debate is about whether the family relationship between the owners of PSG and those who want to take over United falls under the obstacle of the governing body of continental football.

Another fortune that tends to sit in the theater of dreams is Sir Jim Ratcliffe. He is the owner of Ineos, a British petrochemical company that has already entered the world of sports, giving its name to one of the main clubs in the international peloton.

According to what was published by various British media, United fans would see the sale of their compatriot with better eyes. However, Qatar’s involvement is huge and it is not excluded that it could even increase the stratospheric offer.

And that is that Manchester, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with an approximate capital of 4,800 million euros and a debt of 700 million, is estimated by some independent experts at around 5,000 million, which is a much lower amount than the offer.

Asked about this, Ratcliffe stated in the prestigious economic newspaper The Wall Street Journal: “How do you decide the price of a painting?” And United is an image that can be offered.

Record, sale of Chelsea for 5000 million

To date, the record for investing in the purchase of a sports club is held by Todd Boehly, an American philanthropist with stakes in entities such as the baseball Dodgers and the basketball Lakers, who bought Chelsea for 5,000 million euros. After Russia invaded Ukraine and the British government forced Abramovich to sell the club, the American bought it for that amount, despite the fact that it was valued at 3,000.

Rob Walton, the owner of the American supermarket chain Walmart, paid three hundred million less for the NFL Denver Broncos.

If you look back at the first purchases of football clubs in Europe, the 7,000 million for which United could be sold seems even more terrifying. Thus, in 2008, Abu Dhabi took over City for only 175 million euros, while Qatar invested 70 million in the purchase of PSG in 2011.

There are no examples of such high sales in Spain, the most recent ones being Almería for 14 million and Real Zaragoza for just over 16 million. That’s the price the pictures from the peninsula seem to be worth.