Sheikh Jassim ‘will make second bid’ for Man Utd ‘within 10 days’ as Ratcliffe arrives at Old Trafford

Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani is preparing to make a second bid for Man Utd after he sent a team to Old Trafford on Thursday, according to reports.

It was announced in November that the Old Trafford giants’ owners, the Glazer family, were conducting a strategic review and a sale was one option being considered.

Sheikh Jassim and INEOS founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe have bid to buy Man Utd, with both parties visiting the club this week.

Sheikh Jassim did not travel to Manchester on Thursday but sent a strong delegation, with a visit to Old Trafford followed by presentations and conversations at Carrington.

It is understood Shahzad Shahbaz, president of Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation, was in attendance along with the Qatari banker’s personal advisor Fady Bakhos.

Sam Powers and Yasir Shah from Bank of America were part of the delegation, along with lawyers from Macfarlanes and retail estate experts.

Sheikh Jassim’s team made it clear that they are still committed to buying Man Utd in talks which took over ten hours.

And Sky Sports claim that Sheikh Jassim ‘will make a second bid for Manchester United within 10 days’ with a source in New York claiming that ‘there should be no doubt at all that Sheikh Jassim wants to be the owner and custodian of United’.

Analysing Sheikh Jassim’s interest in buying Man Utd, Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol added: “Sheikh Jassim made a bid before the soft deadline a month ago. The Glazer family liked that offer enough to say they would go through to the second stage of the process.

“Sheikh Jassim’s representatives have now been to the club’s training ground to meet some of the senior executives and to have a look at what they would actually be buying.

“What they’re going to be told is having seen the facilities, they will be set another 10 days to make another bid. I am very confident they will make that second bid and a source in the US has told me ‘there should be no doubt at all that Sheikh Jassim wants to be the owner and custodian of Manchester United.

“In the past few weeks, I have been saying that I don’t think that Sheikh Jassim is the sort of person who is going to overpay wildly for the club. That is what I was told.

“But today, I am getting the sense that he will do what it takes to become the club’s new owner. He’s not going to throw money at it but I am getting the feeling that he really, really does want United.

“What was happening today at United was there was a very high-powered delegation representing Sheikh Jassim at the club. They got the train up to Manchester from London this morning and the talks were very positive.

“They were looking under the bonnet of what they could buy and get a better understanding before making a second bid. Sometimes, that second bid could be lower having seen what they could buy but I don’t think that will be the case.”

NEW | 1st pictures of British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe arrives at Old Trafford with Ineos delegation to be met by Manchester United chief exec Richard Arnold for talks over potential takeover #ManUtd #ineos ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/XzxYFobbWJ

— Dan Roan (@danroan) March 17, 2023

A video on Friday showed Ratcliffe arriving at Old Trafford ahead of his round of talks with Man Utd as the INEOS founder entered the ground around 9.30am.