Glazers’ Man United sale: Info ‘slips out’ as Ratcliffe ‘destroys’ club
Man United was not sold to Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani because every time he agreed the Glazers then moved the goalposts, Richard Keys has claimed.
It was reported last year (BBC Sport) that the Qatari banker had withdrawn from the process of buying the club, after talks over a £5billion bid broke down.
INEOS, owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, then moved in to purchase a stake in the Red Devils from the owning Glazer family, that saw them take control of the sporting decisions at Old Trafford.
Now, Keys has attempted to shed some light on those previous attempts to takeover Man United by Al Thani, while trashing Ratcliffe over the club’s recent issues on and off the pitch under INEOS.
Writing in his latest blog post about those previous takeover talks, the presenter said: “As Ratcliffe and the brains trust continue to destroy Mediocre United (Ratcliffe’s words in that interview last week, not mine) I wonder what the club would look like today if the Glazers had done the right thing and sold to Sheikh bin Hamad Al Thani?
“Let me ask the question again? Why didn’t they? Only people close to the deal know the real answer, but some things always slip out and I’ve heard that every time the Sheikh agreed to the Glazers’ terms they moved the goalposts.
“Every time – to the point where trying to do a deal became a farce. Why were my Arab friends given the run-around? Give it some thought. The clue might be in that penultimate sentence.”
INEOS takeover not going as Man United fans would have wanted
Football Insider Opinion
Of course, it is perhaps no surprise that Keys is backing Al Thani here, given as he notes himself in this blog they are friends.
Ultimately, we will never know things would have gone had the Qatari banker been able to complete a takeover of the club.
Regardless of that though, Man United fans are surely not going to be happy with the way that things are going under Ratcliffe and INEOS at the minute.
The backing and sacking of Erik ten Hag was rather messy, as was the sudden departure of Technical Director Dan Ashworth just a few months after his arrival after such a long pursuit of his signature.
On the pitch, back to back defeats to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest have served as a reminder of the huge job facing new manager Ruben Amorim with the squad he has inherited, with many signed for Man United by INEOS.
As a result, it would be no surprise if there are more than a few supporters of the club who wish that the battle to take control at Old Trafford had gone in a different direction.
In other news, Leny Yoro has sent a message to Man United fans after making his debut for the club.
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