Man Utd sale: What is going on at Old Trafford after a fourth offer from the Qatari bid

It is 176 days since the Glazer family said they were considering selling Manchester United.
The process has been protracted, as you might expect for a potential £6bn transaction, one vocal bidder pulled out after the Glazers’ decision to go to a third round.
“The bidding is turning into a farce,” Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus said.
Zilliacus’ involvement was not exactly being taken seriously by those involved in the process but his words have resonated.
A deadline of 28 April was set for those third bids. Since then, the talking has continued. Now a fourth bid – nearer to £5bn – has been made by one of the leading candidates and many are starting to wonder, what is going on?
Why has this still not been resolved?
The obvious reason is either no bidder has reached the price the Glazer family are looking for, or the family believe they can get more out of those who have bid.
The Glazers bought the club for £790m in 2005 and have established a current valuation of between £5bn and £6bn.
It is not clear whether the Glazers are unified in their analysis of the situation. Co-chairmen and brothers Joel and Avram have always been more invested in the club personally but Bryan, Kevin, Edward and Darcie are directors too.
Who is still in the running?
The only publicly known bidders are Qatari billionaire Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos group.

Sheikh Jassim wants to buy 100% of United, while Ineos want the Glazer family’s 69% shareholding and are happy to leave the rest of the club on the New York Stock Exchange.

Elliott Investment Group has revised its involvement from purely offering funding to being prepared to buy a minority stake. The US firm has not said exactly how big a ‘minority’ it is willing to purchase.

What has been offered so far?
Ratcliffe met all three bid deadlines, as did Sheikh Jassim. Initially, Ineos wanted the Glazer ownership, which is around 69%. That has changed and they are now willing to reduce that as long as they stay in control, so 50.01% minimum. That would allow co-chairmen Avram and Joel Glazer to remain investors in the club.

Sheikh Jassim wants 100% control and his fourth bid is nearer to £5bn. There have been other groups, including Elliott Investments and Sixth Street, who have offered to take a minority stake in exchange for funds that could be used to upgrade Old Trafford and the Carrington training ground.

It is thought the Ineos bid still values the club higher but evidently, they would not be buying it all. The view has always been the Glazer family would not settle for less than £5bn, which is twice what Todd Boehly and his consortium spent to buy Chelsea 12 months ago, although they also pledged £1.75bn to improve Stamford Bridge.

Will the deal be done before the start of next season?
It should be – however, unlike the Chelsea sale last year – there is no deadline.

The initial feeling was a sale would be completed by the end of March. Then, even taking delays into account, it was expected a deal would be sorted by the end of the season.

The March deadline has long passed and there is less than a fortnight to the end of the Premier League season. The transfer window then opens on 10 June.