Ratcliffe facing rival bid after Glazer family's private meeting over United bid

A set of Qatari investors are set to bid for Manchester United after they were approached by the Glazer family to discuss a takeover of the club.

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The Americans put the club on the market in November, though they remain adamant that they will listen to anything from a partial stake to a full sale.

With the Glazers seeking around £6billion for the club, interest has been somewhat limited.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest man, has publicly declared his interest and he is the fans’ favourite to take charge having grown up as a United supporter.

However, he’s set to face competition from a set of Qatari investors who made their interest clear with the Raine Group – who have been hired to market the sale of the club – last month.

But the Qatari’s interest in United hasn’t been entirely organic, with Sky Sports revealing that it was the Glazer family that approached the middle-east investors about making a bid for the club.

Avram Glazer was pictured at the World Cup in December, where he had the chance to meet with Qatar-based investors.

Similarly, United had a site at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, where they were hoping to ramp up interest in the club.

There are expected to be two further ‘serious’ bids for the club; one from Saudi Arabia and another from America.

Any full sale of the club is expected to be a record for a sports franchise and will dwarf the £2.5bn paid for Chelsea last year.

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