Manchester United's takeover is turning out to be a complex and unpredictable process. However, it is an opportunity for the club to start a new chapter in its history. The decision to sell was made public in November 2022 when the owners, the Glazer family, announced their intention. And the long-drawn saga may be nearing its end. Whoever takes the reins at Old Trafford will have plenty of work ahead of them, but before that, let's have a quick recap of all one needs to know about the MUFC takeover. Why have the Glazers been unpopular? The Glazer family have been the owners of Manchester United since 2005. However, over this long period, they have largely been unpopular with most fans, who protested against their ownership since the first day. Why so, one may ask? The answer lies in how the Glazers funded their takeover - they did not buy the club with their own money. They borrowed 600 million pounds to buy United in a leveraged buyout and then loaded their debt onto the club. The club has been paying off that debt ever since and 17 years later, it's still around 600 million pounds. The takeover has cost United 1.5 billion pounds. Why are they selling now? All the while, during their ownership tenure, the Glazers have been facing resentment from fans and this has escalated a notch higher over the past year. The other reasons are that United need a lot of money for investment into the stadium and training facilities. Also, during the sale of Chelsea (for an initial fee of £2.85 billion, which could reach £4.25 billion), it was evident that there is a lot of interest around the globe to invest in a football club. Several reports indicated that the Glazers were finally keen on relinquishing control of United - if the price was right. If you want to know more about why Man Utd fans don't like the Glazers, read our explainer here. Who are the bidders? Two leading bidders have emerged in the takeover process - Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe and his petrochemicals firm Ineos have been involved in advanced talks with Raine, the New York bank handling the sale for the Glazers. However, there has been a renewed sense of optimism in the Qatari camp over the past 48 hours, fuelled, sources claim, by dialogue. What are the bidders offering? Sheikh Jassim's improved offer is believed to be around the £5 billion mark with an additional £1 billion investment for total control of the club. Jassim has also reportedly pledged to buy 100 percent of Manchester United. Only 31 percent of the shares are publicly in the market – listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The offer from Ratcliffe and Ineos is for around 60 per cent ownership of the club and proposes that the Glazer family, the current owners, remain for a certain period of time before their stake can be bought out. Also, Ratcliffe will reportedly only buy the Glazers' share and not that of the minority investors. What is the price ? Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has opined that, based on a comparison with Chelsea's revenues, profitability and assets, United would be worth around £4-4.5 billion, with a reasonable expectation that a possible bidding war could push the price up to £5 billion. Have the Qataris won the bid? There were reports of Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, the father of Sheikh Jassim, confirming the news of the success of the Qatari bid. But on Tuesday (June 13) evening, these were declared as mere speculation. TalkSport journalist Alex Crook, on Tuesday afternoon, claimed: “It still looks like a two-horse race. The Qataris believe they're firmly in it, but it's a bit premature to say that they've won.”
