Twitter boss Elon Musk keen on buying Manchester United in a $5.5-bn deal: Report

Twitter and Tesla owner Elon Musk is reportedly keeping an eye on the purchase bids placed for Manchester United as the deadline for bids is getting closer. The Glazer family has reportedly set the final day for placing bids on February 17, and are expecting a multi-billion pound bid to take over the Premier League club, which was put up for sale in November 2022.  

It is expected that a bid of up to £4.5 billion ($5.5 billion) could be enough to get a takeover although United's owners initially wanted something between £6 billion and £8 billion for the sell-up.  

According to a report in Daily Mail, though there is no official word from the tech billionaire, in the past, Musk had hinted that he would like to buy Old Trafford. In August 2022, he tweeted he was “buying Manchester United ur welcome”. He added: “Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U. They were my fav team as a kid.”

But later Musk dismissed the speculations and termed it as a “long-running joke”.

The report noted that dozens of interested parties have already expressed their interest and signed the required papers that would grant them access to confidential data about the club.

Other bidders for Manchester United

In November, the Glazer family declared that Manchester United was up and that it is exploring "strategic alternatives to enhance the club's growth". The Glazers bought Man United for £790 million in 2005. For years, the Red Devils supporters have been criticising the owners for dearth in funds, lack of investment in facilities, and numerous transfer failures.  

Although the American owners had always said that they were not too keen on selling the club, and have claimed that the club is debt-free. Its latest financial statement stunned its supporters, where it revealed that it had a net debt of £514.9 million.

The Glazers in its formal statement said: “The strength of Manchester United rests on the passion and loyalty of our global community of 1.1 billion fans and followers. As we seek to continue building on the Club’s history of success, the Board has authorised a thorough evaluation of strategic alternatives. We will evaluate all options to ensure that we best serve our fans and that Manchester United maximises the significant growth opportunities available to the Club today and in the future. Throughout this process, we will remain fully focused on serving the best interests of our fans, shareholders, and various stakeholders.”

Many influential people and business magnets have shown interest in purchasing Man United, like Ineos boss Jim Ratcliffe and a Qatari group.  

To date, only Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Britain's richest man and the chief executive of INEOS, has publicly expressed his interest in buying the club. A report in the Telegraph claimed that Manchester United owners the Glazers are expecting a bid from the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) later this week. The rumoured bid will come in time to meet the deadline, imposed by the New York-based merchant bank the Raine Group.

The report stated that the Qatari institution would submit a bid that would be backed by the country’s sovereign wealth fund and would be for the club in its entirety rather than a minority stake.
Experts, who are closely watching the buyout, said that it would be interesting to see how UEFA would feel about the potential sale considering the Qatari ownership of French giants Paris Saint-Germain.  

There are rules against dual ownership of football clubs, although the Red Bull-backed FC Salzburg and RB Leipzig have both competed in European football's top competition during the same campaign.