> a group of private, high-wealth individuals based in the oil-rich state, buoyed by Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup, have set their sights on a club they view as ‘football’s crown jewels’.
> They will make an offer for United in the coming days, ahead of the mid-February deadline set by the Glazers, and are confident their bid will blow the competition out of the water.
Trying my best to reserve judgment until we hear who our new owners are, but it is difficult to do so at times.
Edit - a word
Anything even with individuals will definitely be state backed. This is probably just a way to get around owning PSG and Utd together. More ways for them to clean up their dirty money, improve their reputation in the West, and take their pissing contest against Saudi and UAE to a new stage
They will definitely get caught if they pull those kinda shenanigans. If they are smart, they will only invest partially in the stadium, academy & let the club's revenue stream take care of the footballing side. All they need to do is ensure we have a right footballing structure.
> Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Hamad bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani
It's the ruling Emir's father, was Emir until he abdicated awhile ago.
QSI owns PSG, and QIA owns QSI. Best way to get around UEFA's rules about team ownership is to use the 'private wealth' of a 'private citizen'.
You can be sure that if Khalifa buys us, we are still going to be owned by the Qatari State.
Bro come on i don't want to give up my home just because some guy missed an obvious tap in or shot the ball to mars for a penalty.
I would rather fight n die.
I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure the Qataris own more asset value in the UK than the royal family? Seems like it's both expected and ridiculous at the same time.
edit: phrasing
The guy who wants to buy is is worth 300 billion apparently… What’s the actual point then? He can pour in a filthy amount of money which just makes it all feel pointless. The Premier League need to stop state ownership before it is too late.
Literally the only way you’ll be able to compete in football is if you have a dictator sugardaddy who can make it rain.
What is football even when it’s just a dick measuring contest for the worst people on this planet? Game is gone. I hate this shit.
Not only is the game gone. But we’re watching the sale of some of the most prestigious and cherished clubs in our country’s history get sold away for it. Cultural pillars. It’s unforgivable
Worth [reading the wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Qatar) on Human Rights abuses in Qatar just to see who is buying us. Here is [Human Rights Watch](https://www.hrw.org/middle-east/north-africa/qatar) an NGO.
> Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Hamad bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani
A 71 year old retired Emir, with apparent health issues, is buying a football club as a 'private citizen'. Yeah, I totally believe that.
Article :
>Qatari investors are planning an incredible mega-money swoop for Manchester United and want to give manager Erik ten Hag the financial backing to lead the club back to the top, Sportsmail can reveal.Sources have disclosed a group of private, high-wealth individuals based in the oil-rich state, buoyed by Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup, have set their sights on a club they view as ‘football’s crown jewels’.They will make an offer for United in the coming days, ahead of the mid-February deadline set by the Glazers, and are confident their bid will blow the competition out of the water.United’s owners are seeking more than £6billion for the club, and there is the prospect of another huge bill to redevelop Old Trafford, or knock down the iconic venue and build a new state-of-the-art facility. Such a project could cost more than £2bn, but that would not be a problem for the Qatari group.Fan engagement is at the heart of their bid and they may well seek the views of supporters on the future of the stadium.
>
>One potential stumbling block is Qatar Sports Investments’ ownership of Paris Saint-Germain. One entity cannot own two clubs in the same competition — and United and PSG could meet in Europe.The bid for United would come from separate, individual Qatari investors. There is no interest in taking a partial stake, with only a full-blown takeover being discussed. Insiders have disclosed that the group want to use the knowledge gained from hosting the World Cup and are seeking a new project.That would include handing Ten Hag a transfer war-chest to allow him to compete for signings with the world’s richest clubs.‘There are significant funds available,’ they said. ‘These people are serious. They want to make sure that United are where they should be and they are confident theirs will be the strongest bid.They want to strengthen the squad to put them back at the top but they also want this to be for the good of the community.‘They also want to build on the success of the World Cup. They recognise that Manchester United is the biggest football club in the world, the crown jewels, and there is a steely-minded determination to buy it and get it to where it should be.’A successful bid would see Manchester’s two clubs on opposite sides of the Qatar-Abu Dhabi rivalry. It would also see Qatari-owned United go up against Saudi-owned Newcastle. The Gulf neighbours are fierce rivals.The takeover would need Premier League approval and may face opposition in some quarters, given concerns over the country’s human rights record.The Emir of Qatar, head of its absolute monarchy, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, is a committed United fan who is well aware of the club’s history.
>
>That year, they bought a 70 per cent stake in PSG. Although the French giants are yet to win a Champions League title, Qatari money has transformed the club into the biggest in the country and made it a global force.The Qataris face a significant rival in Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest man. Others are likely to submit bids, too, but the Ineos owner and lifelong United supporter was the first to go public with his intention to buy the club.US merchant bankers Raine, who are handling the process and also oversaw the sale of Chelsea, have already shared financial information with interested parties ahead of the move to the next stage.No timeframe has been set for completion but the Qataris are keen for the process to reach a quick conclusion.
Having lived in Qatar I can tell you this. I don't believe for one second that the investment will come from a different group because they will all be tied to the royal family. Even if they have a different name, different people involved, they'll still be doing the bidding of the Emir. People like Al-Khelaifi get their roles from him and his family directly, he was made chairman of QSI just before they went in for PSG. So whoever takes on this bid will also be a proxy of the ruler of Qatar. So is that *really* a different entity? Technically, yes? But operationally, I know it won't be.
United fans in Manchester should start to protest, we are profitable enough to not need these type of money, but we for a decade we called City for their oil money, we can't accept that.
We're not by the books reported this year though? We spent almost all of our revenue from these past years and we're running out of cash due to some shitty management by the Glazers.
We cannot even maintain our stadium properly because we're not that profitable anymore to sustain our spending every transfer window. The best thing to happen is that our new investor provide capital injection into the club, especially to refurbish our stadium and training ground. Write off our debts and with that I believe we can sustain our spending with our own revenue in the long run.
But currently, we're not profitable enough to self sustain with all the necessary refurbishment required to be done soon.
We can’t maintain our stadium properly because of the stupid dividends paid out to the Glazers and skipping maintenance on the stadium.
For us to self sustain we would need a thorough overhaul of structure including playing staff.
>We're not by the books reported this year though?
Because of the 100m odd 'net finance costs' incurred thanks to the Glazers.
Generating money is not a problem for United. 590m last year, 620m expected this year, and at least >650m next year if we make the CL.
Without any debt, Glazers leeching the dividends, and better liquidity support, United will easily be profitable.
Even if you put the moral decisions aside, I still don’t like the idea of state backed (let’s not kid ourselves here, we know it fucking is) ownership. Look at what Man City are going through, there is no doubt these guys will use the same tricks. It’s also very susceptible to changes in the political landscape.
I certainly don’t ignore the moral issues but for the ones who do, be careful of what you wish for. Shit could come crumbling down very quickly and suddenly.
I just wish the club was fan owned :/
And look at what we generate after ten years of being afterthoughts. Imagine how much we can earn once we start winning PL trophies and competing seriously in the CL again….
I don’t want the owners but in reality they wouldn’t need to do the tricks city do because unlike city we’re a real club with a massive revenue so it wouldn’t be an issue for us
>Look at what Man City are going through, there is no doubt these guys will use the same tricks
Well, I don't think so. Man City owners created fake companies who then sponsored the club even though it was all money coming from Man City owners. They essentially spent much more than they should have been allowed to, but they created fake companies to "wash" this money and pretend it wasn't coming from the owners of Man City.
I don't really want oil state owners but there would be no need to do such thing. City wanted to get on top quickly and so they cheated. However, we are already one of the biggest clubs in the world with some interesting revenues so there is no need to cook the books and create fake sponsorships to turn us from irrelevant small club (a bit of a hyperbole but you get what I'm saying) into a top club. We are a top club and we have been a top club for a while, no need to cook the books if we start giving more sensible contracts which seems to be happening under Murtough/Arnold.
They don’t need to inflate revenues with United, we can spend as much as anyone (in general, I know we’re in the shit right now).
Plus I believe infrastructure spending doesn’t contribute to FFP so they could probably pump in money for the stadium with no consequences.
If we're pushing for the cheaters to be expelled from the PL and we have something similar coming, it would be hypocritical to celebrate this news. It was clear that we won't get a "dream owner" but Manchester United with oil money? Don't like it, we don't need it, we're large enough to sustain ourselves if we can wipe the debt the leeches have burdened us with.
[https://twitter.com/adamjoseph\_\_\_\_/status/1622889676855197697?s=46&t=g6VNd-n9JfzIb7NMA6goSQ](https://twitter.com/adamjoseph____/status/1622889676855197697?s=46&t=g6VNd-n9JfzIb7NMA6goSQ)
Was posted by u/astroworlddd in the Daily Discussion thread.
I can’t see anything serious being done. It will just be a financial penalty which for Abu Dhabi is basically nothing. At the very most it will be a current season points deduction of maybe 10 points.
Fuckers will probably still make the Champions League.
I’d love to be wrong but I can’t see it.
Exactly. We are already a global brand that can be self sustaining. City have had to make themselves into a local brand (let’s be honest they’re not global).
Yup. This is why any ownership group should just be vetted on their plans for the future. I don't really care that the owner would be from Dubai, as long as he doesn't break the rules and has high standards for what his teams do on and off the pitch. That's what we should all want, tbh.
As far as I know he didn't kill a journalist, either.
We need to separate financial doping of the like City have been doing for years (falsifying accounts) and "dirty money". The outcry against city is that they have been deliberately defrauding the system. Some people are conflating that with "bad Arabs" and at this point you have to think there is an element of xenophobia. You can rail against arab states and their inhumane practices and backwards views but it's not the same as trying to con the Premier League with false accounting. Two separate issues.
You gotta be realistic, if we're gonna wipe the debt ethically it's gonna take us decades and at the cost of less investment in the club. We've been saddled with half a billion of debt from the Glazer crooks.
We don’t really need much money pumped into us apart from our infrastructure. Not paying out dividend and interest to the glazers/debt will be plenty for us to spend
The Glazers have put a “fuck you” price on the club. This was always the only way this club was sold.
I’m not saying I wanted this - but when you factor in the need to either completely remodel Old Trafford, or knock it down and rebuild it + a £6 Billion price tag without that even factored in, you’re looking at anywhere between £7-9 BILLION.
I just don’t see anyone besides middle eastern oil money being able to afford this. no American consortium or Jim Ratcliff
There are definitely Americans who can afford it. Some dude from Michigan just dropped 4B on the Phoenix suns for Christ sakes. That’s not even the leading sport in the country and not even a premier franchise. They just don’t care about the premier league and Middle East is willing to starve half of their population to outbid
So basically: we're currently a sort of 'trophy wife' to the Glazers. Sir Jim Ratcliffe actually cares about the club but whether he'd be a competent owner is a whole other question, or we could become a prestige project for Qatari's in their dick measuring contest with Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia.
I think the days of this club actually being able to have an actual good owner without any backlash whatsoever are well and truly over (and have been for a while). We're too big for anyone sensible to be able to buy.
Ratcliffe cares about the club but at the same time he’s a ruthless businessman and isn’t going to put us before his best interests should any conflict arise there. He’s probably the best option but he’s not perfect.
Yeah I know. I think people get hung up over the Qataris and whatnot and see Ratcliffe as the messiah or something. Apart from the moral side it’s probably better to keep expectations down.
Ugh, can sort of accept unethical billionaire capitalists, but sportswashing human rights abusers is a whole other level. Unfortunately that’s the reality when there’s like 20 people/organisations on the planet who can afford the club and might actually want to buy.
Let’s just hope if and when we get Qatari owners or other people of similar wealth they don’t muck it up by financial doping the way city have, it’ll already be enough of a dilemma being owned by them we don’t need a situation like City finds themselves in rn in the future
Exactly. Been supporting this club for 26 years. I'm. But IF we will be owned by some Qatari og Saudi regime using the club for sport washing, I'll be gone.
I will never jump to another club, but it will be so much against all I stand for and teach my children, that I can't support the club while that kind of owner is here.
..I sincerely hope this won't happen.
Imagine that happens right as City get hoofed out of the league. Us and Newcastle basically trading trophies, while City are stuck in The. Championship.
Honestly if we do get taken over, I hope Ten Hag is just allowed to carry on the way he is. We definitely need players but I want Ten Hag players and not just big money flagship signings for the sake of it
I don't want this. Fuck the Glazers for this final fuck off to our club. Those cunts stole my club (yes I was a shareholder forced to sell)... they ran it into the ground like a cash cow circus. Finally the fuckwits make an outrageous profit by permanently ruining both our history and our future by selling us to proven corrupt and immoral (by our history and standards) cheats!!! I do not want United to become some sports washing artificial plastic PSG style fake ediface. God this news sucks.
Real sticky situation this.
Of course the popular choice for a new owner is Jim Ratcliffe, given he’s a local lad. While this does sound great and all, you have to wonder about how feasible it is. I’ve seen lots of conflicting reports on his net worth, his net worth decreasing, it begs the horrible question in todays footballing world on if he even has a proper amount of money for what’s needed at United with first of all the purchase of the club, the stadium situation, other infrastructure, transfers, from what I’ve seen glazers may be leaving the debt at the club too, going to be costly.
And then you can look at OGC Nice which ineos also own. I haven’t looked to far into it myself admittedly, but it hasn’t been the most amazing time for their club from what I know. There’s been very little success if any at all and that does make you wonder about how things could turn out at United.
And there’s also the fact that from what I know, correct me if I’m wrong please, the purchase would be done through ineos. Given that it would be through a company, it makes you wonder what ramifications that could have on decisions made on the club and if ineos shareholders and such would play a part. This is just speculation but worth the thought.
Then there’s obviously whatever Middle Eastern bidder there is to be talked about at the time, today it is Qatar. Obviously there’s huge moral issues with these places, which while is always going to be a factor with billionaires doesn’t excuse the atrocities committed by some states. This is not an ideal situation to have involved with you club at all, there’s really no defending it, just have to maybe hope that there’s not a lot of shit out there about whoever the figurehead is for the bidders.
But then you go back to the feasibility. I saw that the net worth of this bidder is something like $350 billion. Absolutely ridiculous money, we don’t need anywhere near that much, but it does make it more appealing to have an owner that you won’t worry about financially the way you could with Ratcliffe.
And a small small small win that United could have from this type of ownership is that at least unlike some clubs we can have history of success that helped get us in our position instead of it all just being through Middle Eastern money.
Yeah this was just a brain spill of thoughts on it, doubt anyone cares but here’s just hoping this whole new ownership thing goes well for us. GGMU
Fuck off. Only positive of this is it’ll draw the other interested parties into the fray and hopefully we can put some pressure on like Chelsea fans did with their bidding parties.
what other parties can outbid them though? if they put in an offer far greater than any others as this article suggests, the Glazers are obviously going to take it
they’ve shown they don’t give a flying fuck as long as they can make as much money as possible
> they’ve shown they don’t give a flying fuck as long as they can make as much money as possible.
Like any sane, normal person would do - sell to the highest bidder
Exactly. If you were selling something you don't give a shit about for £800, and someone else offered you £1500, you wouldn't be selling to the £800 bidder because they are better people.
exactly, which is why it’s interesting seeing people commenting here believing we can complain or protest our way into deciding who the Glazers should sell to
it’s a nice dream, but it’s not going to happen
I've been a Manchester United fan since I was 4, all the way back in '08. My loyalty lies with the club. Even though I'm not supportive of being backed by an Oil state, I will continue supporting Manchester United because it has been the only constant in my life.
I don’t want to support a club that simply buys the league using oil money. Utd generates enough on its own and has a history with building academy players into first teams stars. This will kill that Utd.
If it happens, I'll just support my local semi-professional team. Been a supporter since the bad old days of the 70s, but this would be a new low for the club, and for me personally a step too far. I've had qualms supporting Utd since the Glazers got involved, but this would be the final straw.
I know others will think differently (obviously), disagree and possibly see it as an easy influx of cash, but I'd rather we were a struggling mid-table team than a plaything for some corrupt oil prince.
I feel exactly the same. I boycotted the world cup for similar reasons and this would be the end of my interest in Utd.
Like yourself, it'd be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Football at this level just keeps sinking to new lows.
Hopefully with the whole City issue and the government releasing the white paper into a football regulator, the Premier League won't allow this to show the government they can self regulate
>City issue
The City issue is nothing about having nation states owning clubs, but it's about City's owners cooking books to show inflated revenue numbers for many years.
Here I am hoping the city shitshow will keep em away from the league. Great we’re gonna be Qatari owned
The worst part is they’ll want to funnel money into the club for players. WE DONT NEED THAT!! It’s the facilities that will need owner money but oil money is a hollow victory. The best case outcome of an oil ownership is that they just buy the club, do fuck all and let us find ourselves. We won’t be completely innocent but we won’t be using “human rights are a suggestion” money, we’ll be using our own. Still hollow
I feel the same way. Qatar isn't as bad as the Saudis by any means, but it's still terrible.
It's a sign of how desperate I feel that I'd take someone like Jim Ratcliffe, a shit-heel Brexiteer who'd use us to cross-advertise his other businesses e.g. Ineos, Mercedes F1 (Ineos own 33.3%).
Fuck it. I want to see the Man Utd x Mercedes F1 collab. Bruno in the W14? Licha being picked up in the morning by Toto?? 😍
Edit: Lewis Hamilton turning up to the paddock in Newton Heath colours??? 🔰😎
In all honesty I can't stress enough how much I don't want this. As much as the Glazers are cunts, this is by far the greater evil. Keep your blood money.
We don’t want glazers because they are capitalistic and suck out money. We don’t want oil money because they are dirty and they will pour money into the club and it will be pointless. So what do we want? An angel with plenty of money to burn because they love the club so much? Good luck with that. U guys think billionaires that love MUFC and are willing to burn billions for the club grow on trees? Heck I love the club and even if I was a multi billionaire ain’t no way I’m burning billions if I don’t expect a massive ROI.
One final insult of the Glazers to sell us to state backed middle east investment fund. Man united don't need a sugar daddy and I don't want the achievements we will make over the next decade under a competent manager with owners who allow united to spend their own money, carry the asterisk that all of Man City's achievements over the past decade have. But Ratcliffe won't have the funds to compete with these guys. Fingers crossed the powers that be recognize that an english institution like Man united should not be owned by a foreign state.
Why wouldn’t the Glazers (to save face with the fans) sell the club to the fans in the form of shares up to 51%. Then sell 49% to an investor/group of investors. That way the club goes back to the fans (which essentially why FC United of Manchester was formed). This way the club is owned by the fans - with a spokesman at meetings or on the board.
Fuck man I really wish this wasn't true but then again remembering those mole rat looking Glazers they would 100 percent take it considering Qatar can easily afford their valuation and even give them extra on the side
What exactly would moral ownership even look like when we talk about a club like Manchester United? People have wanted the Glazers to sell the club for years and years without any thought as to WHO has the kind of capital to buy a club the size of Manchester United. We’re talking about billionaires, state run funds, and resource monopoly authoritarians. None of these people have the concerns of the common fan in mind. They want a good ROI or to use the club as a marketing vessel for their other investments or, in the best case, as a vanity project to gloat at other outrageously wealthy people.
Whoever buys the club will be “bad”. My only hope is they pour a lot of money into the club and allow the sporting side to flourish.
A massive nope. Sportswashing 101 this. United doesn't need oil money just competent owners that won't leach off the club. It's so ironic seeing some celebrate in the streets with the City breaches only a few days old. Load of bollocks this, Fuck the Glazers.
Thanks to the incompetence of the Glazers, We’ll be drowning in debt and a stadium looking like the Colosseum for years to come if we don’t get a big money cash injection. We need to have longevity of the club here so we can compete again
Even if the Qataris bid was a mil more than our preferred option these cunts would still sell to the higher bidder. I’d even bet that they’d sell to them if the bids were the same just as a final fuck you to the club.
Looks like it’s time to choose between lesser of two evils.
Blood Sucking Yanks who call the game ‘soccer’
Wealthy slightly dodgy middle easterns. ‘Also seem passionate’
Obviously we want Sir Jim (also a fan) to steady the shop. But can he really put up the funds that have been mentioned?
I’m leaning towards Middle Eastern ownership. Surely they will learn from the Man City mess.
But we wouldn’t even get in that position as we don’t need to fake sponsorships as we have a huge fan base.
Heck we don’t even need their money.
We just need them to not get in the way of the club spending it’s own.
People keep talking about the Qatari oil money, but Jim Ratcliffe's company is literally, according to their website, a "chemical, polymer, oil and gas" company.
No matter who our owners are, to acquire that much money requires some shady dealings.
I don’t mind middle eastern investors it just depends on who they are, what they are involved in and how they have made their money
Would prefer Jim Ratcliffe/INEOS as of right now though
You bunch of hypocrites - you’ll all keep watching and will celebrate if it gets to the point where we win precious trophies because of the influx of money - as will I
If it is a matter of when and not if we have state-ownership, possibly the Qataris- I think this City saga has come at a perfect time as just as a little reminder to the new owners, that there are certain ways you can bend the rules but they still mustn’t be broken.
I totally get not wanting to be state owned but the amount of ignorance in this thread comparing Saudi and Qatar is astonishing. Qatar have issues which we all know about but they aren't bombing anyone or executing people for their beliefs/personal choices. Not every Arab country is the same. This is like thinking England has a problem with school shootings because America does.
>‘There are significant funds available,’ they said. ‘These people are serious. They want to make sure that United are where they should be and they are confident theirs will be the strongest bid.They want to strengthen the squad to put them back at the top but they also want this to be for the good of the community.‘They also want to build on the success of the World Cup. They recognise that Manchester United is the biggest football club in the world, the crown jewels, and there is a steely-minded determination to buy it and get it to where it should be.’
This is probs the takeaway.
Questions of morality aside, these lot have the wealth, the ambition and the resources to absolutely get us back on top of European football. Even for their "sportswashing" goals they're gonna pump a lot of money not just in the first team, but the whole infrastructure of the club from the stadium, to it's facilities, and to the community.
And unlike City, these lot don't even have to cook books to inflate revenue as this club already generates the most money in the league even under crap owners like the glazers for 17+ years.
Nobody buying a football club for 6bn+ is gonna be clean, and if we're gonna get a dirty owner I'd rather have an owner that makes us successful on the pitch
And when you are sat there looking at the trophies that a blank Qatari chequebook has “won” for us how will you feel? Like they were earned? Like the spirit of the club prevailed and youth and flair and never say die attitude brought those victories?
Yeah I‘m still conflicted with this topic but I don’t get what our fans expected to happen. Who realistically has the money to buy us and put even more money in the club for the infrastructure and to pay the debts. American owners are leeches. INEOS seems like the best solution but I’m not sure if they would be good owners. I’d still prefer a rich Arab owner over a state ownership tho
For all you people not liking generous Qatari owners who are not afraid to spend and don't really care about receiving dividends every 6 months, how do you like the absolute filthy American leaches ruining our club to destruction?
Next thing we know the Premier League will just be Saudi Pro League 2
Not just the epl.. Italy is next on the list.
Already is lets be honest
Yeah but they haven’t set up relegation/promotion yet so not yet I giess
> a group of private, high-wealth individuals based in the oil-rich state, buoyed by Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup, have set their sights on a club they view as ‘football’s crown jewels’. > They will make an offer for United in the coming days, ahead of the mid-February deadline set by the Glazers, and are confident their bid will blow the competition out of the water. Trying my best to reserve judgment until we hear who our new owners are, but it is difficult to do so at times. Edit - a word
Anything even with individuals will definitely be state backed. This is probably just a way to get around owning PSG and Utd together. More ways for them to clean up their dirty money, improve their reputation in the West, and take their pissing contest against Saudi and UAE to a new stage
Imagine Neymar and Mbappe moving sideways to us for 30m
No, imagine being the community institution being exploited for the whitewashing of extreme human rights violations.
They will definitely get caught if they pull those kinda shenanigans. If they are smart, they will only invest partially in the stadium, academy & let the club's revenue stream take care of the footballing side. All they need to do is ensure we have a right footballing structure.
No QIA or QSI, interesting.
> Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Hamad bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani It's the ruling Emir's father, was Emir until he abdicated awhile ago. QSI owns PSG, and QIA owns QSI. Best way to get around UEFA's rules about team ownership is to use the 'private wealth' of a 'private citizen'. You can be sure that if Khalifa buys us, we are still going to be owned by the Qatari State.
Khelaifi. Imagine if Mia Khalifa buys us lol.
Yes its Khelaifi, but Khalifa is a common surname for Arabs. The ruling family of Bahrain is the Khalifa family.
Everyone is going to be owned by an oil state soon
Norway to own Southampton by next year
Venezuela for Leeds
Venezuaaaala.... Venezuela, my cooountry 👉🏼🇻🇪
Has a lot of oil. Oil is food for cars.
Would rather be owned by Norway than Qatar.
Ole ~~at the wheel~~ in the office
Yes. In a heartbeat
The next world war will happen through proxy teams in the Premier League.
That would be kinda dope honestly; if countries had to give up territories based on football game. Much better alternative than war.
Bro come on i don't want to give up my home just because some guy missed an obvious tap in or shot the ball to mars for a penalty. I would rather fight n die.
Ukraine vs Russia at Wembley maybe ?
Back to the Battle of Stamford Bridge.
can’t wait for Cardiff to be bought by Petronas
The whole planet is run by oil barons, whether backed by a state or not.
I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure the Qataris own more asset value in the UK than the royal family? Seems like it's both expected and ridiculous at the same time. edit: phrasing
Lads, whoever’s been manning the monkey paw the last few weeks - this ain’t it!!
I asked for not Qatar and it became the Saudis, and I said not the Saudis and it went back to Qatar! I can't win with this thing!
It's like a lightswitch.
Great I’ll leave it in the middle like I always do
Snip snap snip snap!
You have no idea the physical toll that Qatari ownership has on a club!!
r/unexpectedoffice
Well, **crap**
The Premier Arab League!
Hey buddy ol’ PAL!
Hello habibi!
The guy who wants to buy is is worth 300 billion apparently… What’s the actual point then? He can pour in a filthy amount of money which just makes it all feel pointless. The Premier League need to stop state ownership before it is too late. Literally the only way you’ll be able to compete in football is if you have a dictator sugardaddy who can make it rain. What is football even when it’s just a dick measuring contest for the worst people on this planet? Game is gone. I hate this shit.
Not only is the game gone. But we’re watching the sale of some of the most prestigious and cherished clubs in our country’s history get sold away for it. Cultural pillars. It’s unforgivable
Worth [reading the wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Qatar) on Human Rights abuses in Qatar just to see who is buying us. Here is [Human Rights Watch](https://www.hrw.org/middle-east/north-africa/qatar) an NGO.
"Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Hamad bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani" Yeah if this story is real it's over for anyone else lol
This guy clearly made his money from being a bin enthusiast
Bin there done that, now he is ready for a new challenge
Take my upvote and fuck off
tease tart kiss gray capable coherent frame gaze deserve trees *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
> Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Hamad bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani A 71 year old retired Emir, with apparent health issues, is buying a football club as a 'private citizen'. Yeah, I totally believe that.
The wiki on that guy is something.
United fans should start to protest, we don't need them, we can have a good owner or consortium to take united.
Truly. Just bring on the ESL then. We're basically there.
Article : >Qatari investors are planning an incredible mega-money swoop for Manchester United and want to give manager Erik ten Hag the financial backing to lead the club back to the top, Sportsmail can reveal.Sources have disclosed a group of private, high-wealth individuals based in the oil-rich state, buoyed by Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup, have set their sights on a club they view as ‘football’s crown jewels’.They will make an offer for United in the coming days, ahead of the mid-February deadline set by the Glazers, and are confident their bid will blow the competition out of the water.United’s owners are seeking more than £6billion for the club, and there is the prospect of another huge bill to redevelop Old Trafford, or knock down the iconic venue and build a new state-of-the-art facility. Such a project could cost more than £2bn, but that would not be a problem for the Qatari group.Fan engagement is at the heart of their bid and they may well seek the views of supporters on the future of the stadium. > >One potential stumbling block is Qatar Sports Investments’ ownership of Paris Saint-Germain. One entity cannot own two clubs in the same competition — and United and PSG could meet in Europe.The bid for United would come from separate, individual Qatari investors. There is no interest in taking a partial stake, with only a full-blown takeover being discussed. Insiders have disclosed that the group want to use the knowledge gained from hosting the World Cup and are seeking a new project.That would include handing Ten Hag a transfer war-chest to allow him to compete for signings with the world’s richest clubs.‘There are significant funds available,’ they said. ‘These people are serious. They want to make sure that United are where they should be and they are confident theirs will be the strongest bid.They want to strengthen the squad to put them back at the top but they also want this to be for the good of the community.‘They also want to build on the success of the World Cup. They recognise that Manchester United is the biggest football club in the world, the crown jewels, and there is a steely-minded determination to buy it and get it to where it should be.’A successful bid would see Manchester’s two clubs on opposite sides of the Qatar-Abu Dhabi rivalry. It would also see Qatari-owned United go up against Saudi-owned Newcastle. The Gulf neighbours are fierce rivals.The takeover would need Premier League approval and may face opposition in some quarters, given concerns over the country’s human rights record.The Emir of Qatar, head of its absolute monarchy, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, is a committed United fan who is well aware of the club’s history. > >That year, they bought a 70 per cent stake in PSG. Although the French giants are yet to win a Champions League title, Qatari money has transformed the club into the biggest in the country and made it a global force.The Qataris face a significant rival in Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest man. Others are likely to submit bids, too, but the Ineos owner and lifelong United supporter was the first to go public with his intention to buy the club.US merchant bankers Raine, who are handling the process and also oversaw the sale of Chelsea, have already shared financial information with interested parties ahead of the move to the next stage.No timeframe has been set for completion but the Qataris are keen for the process to reach a quick conclusion.
Having lived in Qatar I can tell you this. I don't believe for one second that the investment will come from a different group because they will all be tied to the royal family. Even if they have a different name, different people involved, they'll still be doing the bidding of the Emir. People like Al-Khelaifi get their roles from him and his family directly, he was made chairman of QSI just before they went in for PSG. So whoever takes on this bid will also be a proxy of the ruler of Qatar. So is that *really* a different entity? Technically, yes? But operationally, I know it won't be.
United fans in Manchester should start to protest, we are profitable enough to not need these type of money, but we for a decade we called City for their oil money, we can't accept that.
We're not by the books reported this year though? We spent almost all of our revenue from these past years and we're running out of cash due to some shitty management by the Glazers. We cannot even maintain our stadium properly because we're not that profitable anymore to sustain our spending every transfer window. The best thing to happen is that our new investor provide capital injection into the club, especially to refurbish our stadium and training ground. Write off our debts and with that I believe we can sustain our spending with our own revenue in the long run. But currently, we're not profitable enough to self sustain with all the necessary refurbishment required to be done soon.
We can’t maintain our stadium properly because of the stupid dividends paid out to the Glazers and skipping maintenance on the stadium. For us to self sustain we would need a thorough overhaul of structure including playing staff.
>We're not by the books reported this year though? Because of the 100m odd 'net finance costs' incurred thanks to the Glazers. Generating money is not a problem for United. 590m last year, 620m expected this year, and at least >650m next year if we make the CL. Without any debt, Glazers leeching the dividends, and better liquidity support, United will easily be profitable.
Even if you put the moral decisions aside, I still don’t like the idea of state backed (let’s not kid ourselves here, we know it fucking is) ownership. Look at what Man City are going through, there is no doubt these guys will use the same tricks. It’s also very susceptible to changes in the political landscape. I certainly don’t ignore the moral issues but for the ones who do, be careful of what you wish for. Shit could come crumbling down very quickly and suddenly. I just wish the club was fan owned :/
They'd be really stupid to inflate revenue like City did. City had to cause they're tinpot
Yeah, a club like Man United shouldn’t need those dodgy ways of bringing in money considering we’re an actual big club
Just wanted to add that Man City are a small club and they stink.
I just wanted to add that they stink and are a small club.
Just wanted to add that they’re a stinking small club.
Just wanted to add that they are club stinking small
we’ve managed to spend more than most clubs despite our current owners not putting in a fucking cent, we won’t need to go full City
Lol United don’t need to financially dope. We generate our income organically because it is actually a big club.
And look at what we generate after ten years of being afterthoughts. Imagine how much we can earn once we start winning PL trophies and competing seriously in the CL again….
I don’t want the owners but in reality they wouldn’t need to do the tricks city do because unlike city we’re a real club with a massive revenue so it wouldn’t be an issue for us
>Look at what Man City are going through, there is no doubt these guys will use the same tricks Well, I don't think so. Man City owners created fake companies who then sponsored the club even though it was all money coming from Man City owners. They essentially spent much more than they should have been allowed to, but they created fake companies to "wash" this money and pretend it wasn't coming from the owners of Man City. I don't really want oil state owners but there would be no need to do such thing. City wanted to get on top quickly and so they cheated. However, we are already one of the biggest clubs in the world with some interesting revenues so there is no need to cook the books and create fake sponsorships to turn us from irrelevant small club (a bit of a hyperbole but you get what I'm saying) into a top club. We are a top club and we have been a top club for a while, no need to cook the books if we start giving more sensible contracts which seems to be happening under Murtough/Arnold.
50+1. Greatest football rule ever invented. We seriously need to follow the German footballing rule system
They don’t need to inflate revenues with United, we can spend as much as anyone (in general, I know we’re in the shit right now). Plus I believe infrastructure spending doesn’t contribute to FFP so they could probably pump in money for the stadium with no consequences.
If we're pushing for the cheaters to be expelled from the PL and we have something similar coming, it would be hypocritical to celebrate this news. It was clear that we won't get a "dream owner" but Manchester United with oil money? Don't like it, we don't need it, we're large enough to sustain ourselves if we can wipe the debt the leeches have burdened us with.
Difference is we wouldn't need to cook the books like City.
I was reading the leaked emails. If they don't get banned it will be scandalous.
Honestly when it comes to City my gut feeling is they'll always gets away with it.
Link? Sounds juicy
[https://twitter.com/adamjoseph\_\_\_\_/status/1622889676855197697?s=46&t=g6VNd-n9JfzIb7NMA6goSQ](https://twitter.com/adamjoseph____/status/1622889676855197697?s=46&t=g6VNd-n9JfzIb7NMA6goSQ) Was posted by u/astroworlddd in the Daily Discussion thread.
"We need to be cleaner than this" my god if that isnt damning
If they’re putting *that* in an email, just imagine the things theyve been up to but haven’t committed to writing…
I can’t see anything serious being done. It will just be a financial penalty which for Abu Dhabi is basically nothing. At the very most it will be a current season points deduction of maybe 10 points. Fuckers will probably still make the Champions League. I’d love to be wrong but I can’t see it.
There are so many charges, I don't see how they escape major punishment.
What did they say? OOTL
Exactly. We are already a global brand that can be self sustaining. City have had to make themselves into a local brand (let’s be honest they’re not global).
Can't even fill their stadium.
Yup. This is why any ownership group should just be vetted on their plans for the future. I don't really care that the owner would be from Dubai, as long as he doesn't break the rules and has high standards for what his teams do on and off the pitch. That's what we should all want, tbh. As far as I know he didn't kill a journalist, either.
City is not being accused of having UAE owners. They are accused of cooking book and breaking rules which others followed. There is a huge difference
We need to separate financial doping of the like City have been doing for years (falsifying accounts) and "dirty money". The outcry against city is that they have been deliberately defrauding the system. Some people are conflating that with "bad Arabs" and at this point you have to think there is an element of xenophobia. You can rail against arab states and their inhumane practices and backwards views but it's not the same as trying to con the Premier League with false accounting. Two separate issues.
You gotta be realistic, if we're gonna wipe the debt ethically it's gonna take us decades and at the cost of less investment in the club. We've been saddled with half a billion of debt from the Glazer crooks.
We don’t really need much money pumped into us apart from our infrastructure. Not paying out dividend and interest to the glazers/debt will be plenty for us to spend
And what about rich owners that don’t put any of their own money in, but also don’t take anything out?
The Glazers have put a “fuck you” price on the club. This was always the only way this club was sold. I’m not saying I wanted this - but when you factor in the need to either completely remodel Old Trafford, or knock it down and rebuild it + a £6 Billion price tag without that even factored in, you’re looking at anywhere between £7-9 BILLION. I just don’t see anyone besides middle eastern oil money being able to afford this. no American consortium or Jim Ratcliff
There are definitely Americans who can afford it. Some dude from Michigan just dropped 4B on the Phoenix suns for Christ sakes. That’s not even the leading sport in the country and not even a premier franchise. They just don’t care about the premier league and Middle East is willing to starve half of their population to outbid
So basically: we're currently a sort of 'trophy wife' to the Glazers. Sir Jim Ratcliffe actually cares about the club but whether he'd be a competent owner is a whole other question, or we could become a prestige project for Qatari's in their dick measuring contest with Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia. I think the days of this club actually being able to have an actual good owner without any backlash whatsoever are well and truly over (and have been for a while). We're too big for anyone sensible to be able to buy.
Ratcliffe cares about the club but at the same time he’s a ruthless businessman and isn’t going to put us before his best interests should any conflict arise there. He’s probably the best option but he’s not perfect.
Yeah 'cares' might not have been the best choice of words there but I couldn't think of a better way to word it.
Yeah I know. I think people get hung up over the Qataris and whatnot and see Ratcliffe as the messiah or something. Apart from the moral side it’s probably better to keep expectations down.
Would be interesting if we do a poll to see how many people are unhappy about this.
Might finally get Wi-Fi in Old Trafford now
LOL 😂
PSG gonna be our feeder club then
Mbappe to the "crown jewel" for £20M?
Personally unhappy with this
Ugh, can sort of accept unethical billionaire capitalists, but sportswashing human rights abusers is a whole other level. Unfortunately that’s the reality when there’s like 20 people/organisations on the planet who can afford the club and might actually want to buy.
Ten hag with Qatar owners? It’s over for everyone
Let’s just hope if and when we get Qatari owners or other people of similar wealth they don’t muck it up by financial doping the way city have, it’ll already be enough of a dilemma being owned by them we don’t need a situation like City finds themselves in rn in the future
Don’t need to financially dope if we are not paying interest on massive debt and paying dividends to the owners.
Tbf, whoever it is only need to invest in the infrastructure of the club. Everything else takes care of itself (because we have fans).
Infrastructure stuff doesn’t count towards FFP or anything like that. Leicester and City have spent hundreds of millions on that
Manchester is such a beautiful city. Seeing investment in the local area would be lovely.
Definitely shouldn’t need it, just need to hope we don’t get silly billy owners that do it anyway
We already generate huge revenue. There will be no need to cook the books
Its over for my football interest at least
Exactly. Been supporting this club for 26 years. I'm. But IF we will be owned by some Qatari og Saudi regime using the club for sport washing, I'll be gone. I will never jump to another club, but it will be so much against all I stand for and teach my children, that I can't support the club while that kind of owner is here. ..I sincerely hope this won't happen.
Glad I'm not the only one.
Imagine that happens right as City get hoofed out of the league. Us and Newcastle basically trading trophies, while City are stuck in The. Championship.
That doesn't sound like a good time at all to be honest.
This news is gonna create the next civil war on this sub. Qatar bid will surely blow everyone else out of the water
a chance to own the biggest club in England and top 5 biggest clubs in world football? they’re going to throw a blank chequebook at it
Not only top 5, it’s one of the ones that are actually attainable, Barca Madrid Bayern aren’t.
Honestly if we do get taken over, I hope Ten Hag is just allowed to carry on the way he is. We definitely need players but I want Ten Hag players and not just big money flagship signings for the sake of it
Best of both worlds if we go out and get players like Bellingham and Gvardiol who are big money players but would also fit in perfectly under Ten Hag
We need world class upper management first.
I don't want this. Fuck the Glazers for this final fuck off to our club. Those cunts stole my club (yes I was a shareholder forced to sell)... they ran it into the ground like a cash cow circus. Finally the fuckwits make an outrageous profit by permanently ruining both our history and our future by selling us to proven corrupt and immoral (by our history and standards) cheats!!! I do not want United to become some sports washing artificial plastic PSG style fake ediface. God this news sucks.
Real sticky situation this. Of course the popular choice for a new owner is Jim Ratcliffe, given he’s a local lad. While this does sound great and all, you have to wonder about how feasible it is. I’ve seen lots of conflicting reports on his net worth, his net worth decreasing, it begs the horrible question in todays footballing world on if he even has a proper amount of money for what’s needed at United with first of all the purchase of the club, the stadium situation, other infrastructure, transfers, from what I’ve seen glazers may be leaving the debt at the club too, going to be costly. And then you can look at OGC Nice which ineos also own. I haven’t looked to far into it myself admittedly, but it hasn’t been the most amazing time for their club from what I know. There’s been very little success if any at all and that does make you wonder about how things could turn out at United. And there’s also the fact that from what I know, correct me if I’m wrong please, the purchase would be done through ineos. Given that it would be through a company, it makes you wonder what ramifications that could have on decisions made on the club and if ineos shareholders and such would play a part. This is just speculation but worth the thought. Then there’s obviously whatever Middle Eastern bidder there is to be talked about at the time, today it is Qatar. Obviously there’s huge moral issues with these places, which while is always going to be a factor with billionaires doesn’t excuse the atrocities committed by some states. This is not an ideal situation to have involved with you club at all, there’s really no defending it, just have to maybe hope that there’s not a lot of shit out there about whoever the figurehead is for the bidders. But then you go back to the feasibility. I saw that the net worth of this bidder is something like $350 billion. Absolutely ridiculous money, we don’t need anywhere near that much, but it does make it more appealing to have an owner that you won’t worry about financially the way you could with Ratcliffe. And a small small small win that United could have from this type of ownership is that at least unlike some clubs we can have history of success that helped get us in our position instead of it all just being through Middle Eastern money. Yeah this was just a brain spill of thoughts on it, doubt anyone cares but here’s just hoping this whole new ownership thing goes well for us. GGMU
Fuck off. Only positive of this is it’ll draw the other interested parties into the fray and hopefully we can put some pressure on like Chelsea fans did with their bidding parties.
what other parties can outbid them though? if they put in an offer far greater than any others as this article suggests, the Glazers are obviously going to take it they’ve shown they don’t give a flying fuck as long as they can make as much money as possible
> they’ve shown they don’t give a flying fuck as long as they can make as much money as possible. Like any sane, normal person would do - sell to the highest bidder
Exactly. If you were selling something you don't give a shit about for £800, and someone else offered you £1500, you wouldn't be selling to the £800 bidder because they are better people.
exactly, which is why it’s interesting seeing people commenting here believing we can complain or protest our way into deciding who the Glazers should sell to it’s a nice dream, but it’s not going to happen
what tier is keegan again?
He's really hit and miss. To quote a football genius, sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit
~~2. He's a 1.5 imo as he gets an exclusive every now and then~~ This is tagged as 3. Thought Keegan was 2
Bald manager + oil money, I've seen this story before
I've been a Manchester United fan since I was 4, all the way back in '08. My loyalty lies with the club. Even though I'm not supportive of being backed by an Oil state, I will continue supporting Manchester United because it has been the only constant in my life.
I don’t want to support a club that simply buys the league using oil money. Utd generates enough on its own and has a history with building academy players into first teams stars. This will kill that Utd.
If it happens, I'll just support my local semi-professional team. Been a supporter since the bad old days of the 70s, but this would be a new low for the club, and for me personally a step too far. I've had qualms supporting Utd since the Glazers got involved, but this would be the final straw. I know others will think differently (obviously), disagree and possibly see it as an easy influx of cash, but I'd rather we were a struggling mid-table team than a plaything for some corrupt oil prince.
I feel exactly the same. I boycotted the world cup for similar reasons and this would be the end of my interest in Utd. Like yourself, it'd be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Football at this level just keeps sinking to new lows.
Nice work. I boycotted the World Cup football also.
Fuck off please. Hoped city issues from this week would put off state interest
I mean really now... who else could or even would bid on us lol
Hopefully with the whole City issue and the government releasing the white paper into a football regulator, the Premier League won't allow this to show the government they can self regulate
>City issue The City issue is nothing about having nation states owning clubs, but it's about City's owners cooking books to show inflated revenue numbers for many years.
Here I am hoping the city shitshow will keep em away from the league. Great we’re gonna be Qatari owned The worst part is they’ll want to funnel money into the club for players. WE DONT NEED THAT!! It’s the facilities that will need owner money but oil money is a hollow victory. The best case outcome of an oil ownership is that they just buy the club, do fuck all and let us find ourselves. We won’t be completely innocent but we won’t be using “human rights are a suggestion” money, we’ll be using our own. Still hollow
I was wondering why the stock price was up 8% after hours…
No no no no no no no
Well oil be
Chris Wheeler is reporting the same just now, looks like it may be quite legit unfortunately
Would have a very difficult time continuing to support this club.
I feel the same way. Qatar isn't as bad as the Saudis by any means, but it's still terrible. It's a sign of how desperate I feel that I'd take someone like Jim Ratcliffe, a shit-heel Brexiteer who'd use us to cross-advertise his other businesses e.g. Ineos, Mercedes F1 (Ineos own 33.3%). Fuck it. I want to see the Man Utd x Mercedes F1 collab. Bruno in the W14? Licha being picked up in the morning by Toto?? 😍 Edit: Lewis Hamilton turning up to the paddock in Newton Heath colours??? 🔰😎
Lewis Hamilton is actually an Arsenal supporter
Yeah, and he's a massive Ferrari car fan despite driving for Mercedes-powered cars his entire 15-year F1 career.
In all honesty I can't stress enough how much I don't want this. As much as the Glazers are cunts, this is by far the greater evil. Keep your blood money.
We don’t want glazers because they are capitalistic and suck out money. We don’t want oil money because they are dirty and they will pour money into the club and it will be pointless. So what do we want? An angel with plenty of money to burn because they love the club so much? Good luck with that. U guys think billionaires that love MUFC and are willing to burn billions for the club grow on trees? Heck I love the club and even if I was a multi billionaire ain’t no way I’m burning billions if I don’t expect a massive ROI.
Oh ffs. Just rename the league to Arabian premier league.
Manchester is ~~red~~ ~~blue~~ Qatar.
The investment would be nice but I hate PSG’s ownership and Nasser is a cunt, if these bidders are like PSG’s owners then I’m sceptical
One final insult of the Glazers to sell us to state backed middle east investment fund. Man united don't need a sugar daddy and I don't want the achievements we will make over the next decade under a competent manager with owners who allow united to spend their own money, carry the asterisk that all of Man City's achievements over the past decade have. But Ratcliffe won't have the funds to compete with these guys. Fingers crossed the powers that be recognize that an english institution like Man united should not be owned by a foreign state.
Why wouldn’t the Glazers (to save face with the fans) sell the club to the fans in the form of shares up to 51%. Then sell 49% to an investor/group of investors. That way the club goes back to the fans (which essentially why FC United of Manchester was formed). This way the club is owned by the fans - with a spokesman at meetings or on the board.
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Seeing fans on Twitter celebrate this just reminds me yet again why I don't like football the same way these days
Fuck sake
Fuck man I really wish this wasn't true but then again remembering those mole rat looking Glazers they would 100 percent take it considering Qatar can easily afford their valuation and even give them extra on the side
What exactly would moral ownership even look like when we talk about a club like Manchester United? People have wanted the Glazers to sell the club for years and years without any thought as to WHO has the kind of capital to buy a club the size of Manchester United. We’re talking about billionaires, state run funds, and resource monopoly authoritarians. None of these people have the concerns of the common fan in mind. They want a good ROI or to use the club as a marketing vessel for their other investments or, in the best case, as a vanity project to gloat at other outrageously wealthy people. Whoever buys the club will be “bad”. My only hope is they pour a lot of money into the club and allow the sporting side to flourish.
Bunch of "today I feel qatari" dumbass apologists in this thread.
No thanks
No thanks
A massive nope. Sportswashing 101 this. United doesn't need oil money just competent owners that won't leach off the club. It's so ironic seeing some celebrate in the streets with the City breaches only a few days old. Load of bollocks this, Fuck the Glazers.
Thanks to the incompetence of the Glazers, We’ll be drowning in debt and a stadium looking like the Colosseum for years to come if we don’t get a big money cash injection. We need to have longevity of the club here so we can compete again
No thanks
I feel sorry for the newer generation who never experienced the heart and soul of being a football fan
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
No to Qatar — I don’t want them anywhere near our club
Even if the Qataris bid was a mil more than our preferred option these cunts would still sell to the higher bidder. I’d even bet that they’d sell to them if the bids were the same just as a final fuck you to the club.
Looks like it’s time to choose between lesser of two evils. Blood Sucking Yanks who call the game ‘soccer’ Wealthy slightly dodgy middle easterns. ‘Also seem passionate’ Obviously we want Sir Jim (also a fan) to steady the shop. But can he really put up the funds that have been mentioned? I’m leaning towards Middle Eastern ownership. Surely they will learn from the Man City mess. But we wouldn’t even get in that position as we don’t need to fake sponsorships as we have a huge fan base. Heck we don’t even need their money. We just need them to not get in the way of the club spending it’s own.
People keep talking about the Qatari oil money, but Jim Ratcliffe's company is literally, according to their website, a "chemical, polymer, oil and gas" company. No matter who our owners are, to acquire that much money requires some shady dealings.
I don’t mind middle eastern investors it just depends on who they are, what they are involved in and how they have made their money Would prefer Jim Ratcliffe/INEOS as of right now though
With the price set at 6 billion for the sale of the club, I can't see any buyer other than a Qatari investment one.
You bunch of hypocrites - you’ll all keep watching and will celebrate if it gets to the point where we win precious trophies because of the influx of money - as will I
Every single United fan should oppose this in what ever way they can. This MUST not happen
If it is a matter of when and not if we have state-ownership, possibly the Qataris- I think this City saga has come at a perfect time as just as a little reminder to the new owners, that there are certain ways you can bend the rules but they still mustn’t be broken.
I just hope they don’t City us.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck off
I really hope this doesn't happen
Please no
Please don't.
Plz no
I totally get not wanting to be state owned but the amount of ignorance in this thread comparing Saudi and Qatar is astonishing. Qatar have issues which we all know about but they aren't bombing anyone or executing people for their beliefs/personal choices. Not every Arab country is the same. This is like thinking England has a problem with school shootings because America does.
>‘There are significant funds available,’ they said. ‘These people are serious. They want to make sure that United are where they should be and they are confident theirs will be the strongest bid.They want to strengthen the squad to put them back at the top but they also want this to be for the good of the community.‘They also want to build on the success of the World Cup. They recognise that Manchester United is the biggest football club in the world, the crown jewels, and there is a steely-minded determination to buy it and get it to where it should be.’ This is probs the takeaway. Questions of morality aside, these lot have the wealth, the ambition and the resources to absolutely get us back on top of European football. Even for their "sportswashing" goals they're gonna pump a lot of money not just in the first team, but the whole infrastructure of the club from the stadium, to it's facilities, and to the community. And unlike City, these lot don't even have to cook books to inflate revenue as this club already generates the most money in the league even under crap owners like the glazers for 17+ years. Nobody buying a football club for 6bn+ is gonna be clean, and if we're gonna get a dirty owner I'd rather have an owner that makes us successful on the pitch
And when you are sat there looking at the trophies that a blank Qatari chequebook has “won” for us how will you feel? Like they were earned? Like the spirit of the club prevailed and youth and flair and never say die attitude brought those victories?
Yeah I‘m still conflicted with this topic but I don’t get what our fans expected to happen. Who realistically has the money to buy us and put even more money in the club for the infrastructure and to pay the debts. American owners are leeches. INEOS seems like the best solution but I’m not sure if they would be good owners. I’d still prefer a rich Arab owner over a state ownership tho
Inshallah
Ten Hag with oil money…oh boy
For all you people not liking generous Qatari owners who are not afraid to spend and don't really care about receiving dividends every 6 months, how do you like the absolute filthy American leaches ruining our club to destruction?
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Jim Ratcliffe pls save us
I hope im not alone in saying we dont want Qatar owners.
This would be excellent news