Who Can Actually Afford To Buy Manchester United? | Explained

In November, the Glazer family announced they were prepared to explore strategic alternatives for Manchester United, and this could include investment or a full sale of the club. Just listen to Avram Glazer himself, speaking to Sky Sports in Florida. Well, as we announced yesterday, the board went through a process and it's decided it's going to look at different strategic alternatives and that's what we're doing. Make no mistake, any sale would be a seismic moment in the sporting world. Many at Old Trafford have been desperate for the Glazers to move on ever since they took full control in 2005, so we'll be praying that next year their dreams come true. However, Manchester United will not come cheap. The investment banking firm The Rain Group have been employed as their exclusive financial advisor with a remit to get the best price possible for United, and early indications suggest that could be between £6-7 billion. If achieved, it would easily be the most expensive acquisition of a franchise ever. Such a lofty price tag makes potential buyers few and far between, but Avram Glazer recently told The Athletic that the sale process was going ahead, and there has been plenty of chatter online about interested parties from across the globe. In this Football Daily Explained, we're picking through some of the names being floated in the press to try and identify who might just be the next owners of Manchester United. It's not hard to see the appeal of Sir Jim Ratcliffe taking over at Manchester United. Born in Falesworth, a town in the Greater Manchester Metropolitan Area, Ratcliffe is a Red Devil, and this fact alone will be music to the ears of United supporters disenchanted by the Glazers absence over the years. Among his many ventures, Ratcliffe is best known for creating the chemical company Ineos. The Sunday Times puts his net worth at £6 billion, making him the 27th richest person in the UK. However, Forbes believes his true value is much higher, and it's worth noting that in 2018 he was considered Britain's richest person with a £21 billion fortune. Either way, the 71-year-old is doing just fine. To add more fuel to the fire, Ratcliffe has confirmed his interest in United. If the club is for sale, Jim is definitely a potential buyer, a spokesman revealed, while it's also known that he discussed a potential sale with the Glazers personally over the summer. He has plenty of experience in sports too. Through his company Ineos, Ratcliffe is heavily involved in sports varying from rugby to Formula 1 and sailing, while his cycling franchise team Ineos has been successful in the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia. But more importantly, Ratcliffe has invested in football already. Ineos owns the Swiss second-tier side FC Lausanne Sport, and in 2019 acquired the league in outfit Nice. Ratcliffe also lodged a £4.25 billion bid for Chelsea in the summer, and has been linked with West Ham in the past. However, Manchester United appears the ultimate goal for the man born just miles from Old Trafford. A sticking point though is the asking price. The top end of £7 billion is way beyond what Ratcliffe can achieve single-handedly, something he has alluded to in interviews with the Financial Times, meaning he may have to enter a consortium to raise funds. And this may be the way to go for anyone serious about buying the club. Disgruntled fans at Manchester United have tried to buy the club before. Just take 2010, when a group called the Red Knights sought to raise £1.25 billion to entice the Glazers into a sale. That consortium was led by Lord Jim O'Neill, the former chairman of the American bank Goldman Sachs. News of the club's availability has thrust the 65-year-old back into the spotlight, and Lord O'Neill hasn't shied away from tabling a bid once more. However, not at the price point being mooted by rain. Described as unrealistic in an interview with the Manchester Evening News, O'Neill claimed the Glazers' decision to go public with their decision to sell suggested they were struggling to generate private buyers. Anyone who has been in business and thinks of ownership of assets that people want, you don't need to go to a public statement to attract buyers at a premium, he said, adding it would be very difficult to achieve his dream of being part of value-based, purpose-based, better ownership of United. As The Athletic puts it, the Glazers are capitalists, so dealing with Lord O'Neill and the Red Knights at a lower price point looks unrealistic. No matter how well Naturally, amateur sleuths hunting for Manchester United's new owners have looked straight towards the Middle East. The Abu Dhabi-funded City Football Group are about to take their portfolio to 13 clubs with the addition of Brazilian top division side Esporte Club Bahia. Meanwhile, PSG's owners, the Qatari Sports Investment Fund, recently purchased a minority stake in Portugal's Sporting Braga. Saudi Arabian interest in football has also never been higher. The controversial takeover of Newcastle United by the Saudi Public Investment Fund couldn't be going better, with the Magpies flying high this term, and their national team is firmly on the map after their miraculous defeat of Argentina at the World Cup. The fact that South Americans won the whole tournament has only made that victory even sweeter. Saudi Arabia has even lodged a bid to host the 2030 World Cup along with Greece and Egypt, showing they mean business. It should be no surprise then that the country's sports minister, Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turgi al-Faisal, has encouraged Saudi interest in either Manchester United or Liverpool. In November, he told Sky Sports he hoped private companies from the kingdom would look to invest if it makes good business, adding, everyone watches the Premier League, there are die-hard fans of these teams in the kingdom, so it would be a benefit for everyone. During the World Cup, Avram Glazer visited Doha, boosting speculation that Arab investment could be the answer. The Athletic even reported that he held discussions with some interested parties. However, the American has other business ventures in the region, so nothing yet has been confirmed. The idea of the Glazers selling up to another set of Americans won't be welcomed by a large section of the United faithful. In the summer, a false article linking the US investment firm Apollo with the club was described as totally unacceptable by Gary Neville. But the reality is that US interest in soccer is only increasing. According to Deloitte, two-thirds of investment in Europe's biggest leagues over the past five years have come from America, with Burnley, Bournemouth and Lyon all examples of clubs to fall under US control. So could United stay in American hands? The tech giant Apple emerged as a surprise contender after making moves in the football industry, notably claiming the MLS streaming rights in the States. But their interest in United has since been rubbished, and Amazon have been linked after their continued expansion into European football. They currently have a sleeve sponsorship deal with Napoli, dominate the broadcasting rights for Ligue 1 and currently show 20 Premier League matches per season. But it's likely a broadcaster buying a football club would fall foul of the Department of Trade and Industry's regulations on anti-competitiveness, as happened when BSkyB attempted to purchase Manchester United in 1999. It means that any US interest is likely to come from another US private equity firm in the mould of Redbird Capital, the owners of AC Milan, Toulouse and investors in Liverpool. That said, the Glazers know they'll have to tread carefully Finally, Indian interest in British football is nothing new either. The steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal has been co-owner of QPR since 2007, while the Venke family continue to control proceedings at Blackburn Rovers. But when it comes to wealth, neither compare to Mukesh Ambani, the Indian businessman linked to Manchester United. The world's 10th richest person with a net worth of £73.2 billion according to Forbes, it's believed Ambani could be tempted to enter the football market. In the words of Simon Chadwick, a professor of sport and geopolitical economy, there is an increasing appetite in India for non-cricket investment opportunities. Adding, we've already had China and now we have Saudi Arabia, India could be the next great frontier. With United and Liverpool both up for grabs, Ambani has the pick of two English powerhouses. However, the Athletic believes he is designed on Arsenal instead, the club supported by his son. The Gunners are owned by the Cronkie family, who continue to they're going nowhere despite the turbulence surrounding their ownership. So Ambani may have to wait if he's serious about adding Arsenal to his portfolio. But if he gets impatient and decides Manchester United is his next best bet, then he certainly has the resources to make a deal happen. So that's our run through of some of the names being linked with Manchester United in the press. We should stress that most potential buyers will probably remain anonymous until the right moment, but you still get a taste of what you might expect. This has been Football Daily Explained, like the video if you enjoyed it, subscribe to the channel and we'll see you next time.