Sheikh Jassim pulls out of Manchester United takeover race

Sheikh Jassim – who was vying to purchase Manchester United – has withdrawn his offer, leaving Sir Jim Ratcliffe now the only active bidder.

The potential Man United takeover process has been extremely drawn out and quite tedious because since the final bids were made by Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe, there has been very little progress.

This lack of progress has seen reports suggesting that the Glazers are willing to not sell the club after all, however, they may now have no choice but to keep a major stake in the club following this latest news.

Jassim was the front of a Qatari group willing to pay cash upfront and in full while also promising to rid the club entirely of any debt which had been placed on them by the Glazers over the years, however, that was seemingly not good enough for the American owners.

Sheikh Jassim withdraws offer to buy Manchester United

The lack of progress made by the Glazers as well as Sir Jim Ratcliffe lowballing Sheikh Jassim by offering to purchase just 25% of the club instead of a majority, was one step too far for the Qatari group.

Sheikh Jassim was not just going to remove all debt, but also improve the club’s training ground, infrastructure at Old Trafford and importantly, could have handed Erik ten Hag a significant transfer budget.

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Sheikh Jassim has had further discussions with Glazers family to buy 100% of Manchester United.

Sheikh Jassim’s bid proposition has been rejected again by Glazers family.

As a result — Sheikh Jassim informed Glazers that he’s ready to withdraw from the process. pic.twitter.com/gmufiWC4Uc

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 14, 2023

It was back in May when Sheikh Jassim and his Qatari group started to contemplate the idea of withdrawing their bid and now it’s come to a reality due to a lack of progress at the moment and there is no end goal in sight.

It is certainly a bizarre decision from the Glazers to not accept Sheikh Jassim’s lucrative offer which was said to be north of the club’s $3.5 billion (€3.3 billion) market value, but they seemingly appear keen to stick around for a while longer by keeping hold of a 75% stake.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe to purchase 25% stake in Man United

Despite that offer, it was too low from the Glazers’ point of view, so it’s no surprise that Sheikh Jassim has decided to keep his money and will likely look to invest it somewhere else because he had no interest in anything less than a 100% stake in Man United.

The fact that Sheikh Jassim has now withdrawn his bid means that Sir Jim Ratcliffe now has a clear run at getting a foot in the door at Old Trafford, although it won’t likely please many Man United fans who want the Glazers completely out of their club.

Despite insisting he wanted a 100% stake in the club he has grown up supporting, Ratcliffe has moved the goalposts and bent to the demands of the Glazers, with reports claiming in the next few weeks his 25% purchase will be processed.

The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust have released a statement urging the club to make their stance clear amidst this major news.

They said: “We hope this news accelerates that process rather than delays it,” a statement said following Sheikh Jassim’s withdrawal. “Based on the last 11 months, no-one can be quite sure.”