ionigeria.com Nigerian Newspaper
Sheikh Jassim to make a second bid for Manchester United next week; his representatives visited club on Thursday to look at the stadium and training ground; Sir Jim Ratcliffe also expected to make second offer for United next week after INEOS visited club on Friday
Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani would now be “willing to overpay” for Manchester United with a figure closer to the Glazers’ £6bn price tag and will make a second bid for the club next week.
It was previously understood the Qatari bidders were determined not to pay over the odds for the club, but that stance has softened in recent days coinciding with a delegation’s visit to Old Trafford on Thursday.
Following constructive meetings, Sheikh Jassim is consulting with his bankers and advisers on Friday in order to put together what he believes will be a compelling offer for the club.
Like all the other bidders, he is prepared to overpay for United because of its history and because it hardly if ever comes on the market.
A US insider says: “All the numbers people from the bidders will be working out the real value of the club over the next few days. They will be making second bids. The reality is their first bids were just indicative.
“In this process, the second bids next week are really the first serious bids.”
Ratcliffe expected to make second offer for Man Utd
British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is also expected to make a second offer for Manchester United next week after visiting the club on Friday.
The INEOS delegation spent six hours at Old Trafford and Carrington with meetings finishing at about 4pm.
Ratcliffe and INEOS are making no comment, and they will now go away and digest the information they received on Friday before making a new formal offer next week.
Ratcliffe, 70, flew in from Nice on Thursday and visited United’s management team at Old Trafford on Friday, alongside INEOS sport representatives.
He was photographed outside Old Trafford after meeting club executives - unlike Sheikh Jassim, who did not visit Manchester personally the previous day.
