Qatari consortium make eight promises to Man Utd fans as part of bid

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The Qatari consortium who have now made an official bid for a complete takeover at Manchester United made eight promises to the club’s supporters if they were to be chosen by US bankers Raine Group as the club’s next owners. The Glazers announced in November that they were looking for new investment in the club with the possibility of a full sale.

After months of speculation, things are starting to heat up after a soft deadline of February 17 was set for prospective bids. It initially looked as though the Glazers would have to settle for a minority sale while maintaining their majority sharehold.

But the past few weeks have seen mass interest from investors all over the world. It became clear that strong interest was stemming from investors in Qatar and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Jaber Al Thani has now confirmed his bid “for 100 per cent of Manchester United Football club”.

Al Thani, who is the chairman of Qatar’s biggest bank – Qatar Islamic Bank, went on to make several promises to fans in his short statement. The first pledge made was to “return the club to its former glories” with United not winning a trophy since 2017.

He then also promised that his bid would make United “completely debt free” by using “Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation”. The Qatari sheikh, son of a former Prime Minister, also vowed to back both the men’s and women’s team in the transfer market with plans to “invest in the football teams”.

Four more promises were made for investment into “the training centre, the stadium and wider infrastructure” as well as “the fan experience”. And Al Thani also offered a guarantee that the money will also go towards the “communities the club supports”.

But he currently faces competition from British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe for the purchase of United, who is a boyhood fan of the club. And club legend Gary Neville believes Ratcliffe may be the best person to take over from the Glazers.

“The main thing is that the Glazers leave as quickly as possible and the second thing is that whoever takes it over, if they could hand it over to people who are in good hands and have a feeling for the club, that would be great,” Neville told Sky Sports. “Jim Ratcliffe was born in Manchester and knows the area. If he wins it, I think there will be a lot of very happy Manchester United fans. He would want to do the right thing by the club – in fact I am sure that he would.

“That’s the main thing beyond the Glazers leaving, that they don’t hand it over…I don’t think United can hand it over to another investment firm who are expecting a return on their money. That’s what worries me a little bit about private enquiry coming into football and that ultimately, they are looking for a return on their money and a return on their investment.”

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