Manchester United news – latest: Qatari bid confirmed before deadline for offers
The Glazers have named Friday as the deadline for any potential offers while on the pitch United earned a 2-2 draw in Barcelona as Marcus Rashford scored again
Manchester United is up for sale. The club has been owned by the Glazer family since 2005 but the Americans announced in November last year that they would be putting the club up for sale following years of unrest and fan protests surrounding their ownership.
Today marks the first stage of that process with a soft deadline for potential takeover proposals to be submitted to the Glazers by 10pm GMT alongside a formally registering of any possible bidders interest. The document which will hold the proposal must include a paragraph-long statement from the interested buyer explaining how much of the club they want to own and what their offer is.
At this stage Sir Jim Ratcliffe is the only interested party to publicly announce his interest in taking over Manchester United. He is Britain’s richest man, who also owns French club Nice, and is a boyhood United fan. He confirmed in January he will be making a bid.
On the pitch, Erik ten Hag’s men travelled to Barcelona last night for the first leg of their Europa League play-off game. The host took the lead through Andreas Christiansen’s header before Marcus Rashford equalised and a Jules Kounde own goal but United in front. They couldn’t hold onto that lead though and Raphinha slotted home a lovely curling finish to beat David De Gea and keep the tie delicately poised ahead of the return leg at Old Trafford next week.
Follow along as we bring the latest updates on Manchester United’s sale and reaction from their draw with Barcelona:
Who is interested in buying Man Utd?
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, at this stage, is the only interested party to publicly announce his interest in taking over Manchester United. Britain’s richest man, who also owns French club Nice, is a boyhood United fan and confirmed in January he will be making a bid.
The Oldham-born billionaire owns INEOS Group, a British chemical company, and has hired American banks JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs to help him during the process.
Manchester United sale explained: Everything you need to know ahead of the deadline
The sale of Manchester United is set to reach its first important stage with the soft deadline for potential takeover proposals to be submitted coming on Friday.
Manchester United have been owned by the Glazer family since 2003 but the Americans announced in November last year that they would be putting the club up for sale.
The announcement follows years of unrest and fan protests surrounding their ownership.
Ahead of Friday’s deadline, here is everything you need to know.
Manchester United sale explained: Everything you need to know ahead of the deadline
Everything you need to know about interested buyers, takeover cost and the potential timeline for a sale
Manchester United takeover deadline
Good morning, welcome to The Independent’s live blog following all the latest updates about the sale of Manchester United as well as reaction from the clubs 2-2 draw with Barcelona in the Europa League last night.
The big story of the day is that the deadline for potential buyers closes at 10pm tonight UK time. That’s a soft deadline set by the Glazer family so other bids could come in further down the line but the current owners want an overall look at the landscape and willingness to purchase the club.
Elsewhere, Erik ten Hag’s men impressed in their away leg of the Europa League play-offs. They had the unenviable task of trying to defeat Barcelona at the Camp Nou last night and almost pulled it off. A match which United dominated for lenghty periods ended in a 2-2 draw as both teams relied on their attacking powerhouses to keep them in the contest.
The second leg will be played next Thursday at Old Trafford and Ten Hag will be quietly confident that his players can get the job done with home crowd advantage.
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