The Qatari bid spearheaded by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani were prepared to commit over £6billion to the takeover of Manchester United, Mail Sport‘s Mike Keegan told the It’s All Kicking Off podcast.
The Qataris withdrew from the race to buy the Premier League giants on Saturday after it emerged Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s offer for a minority stake was more appealing to the Glazer family.
The INEOS boss, a boyhood United fan, initially lodged a bid for a majority stake in the club when the Glazers announced last November that they were open to investment or a full sale.
But after a prolonged impasse, Ratfcliffe submitted an adjusted offer, believed to be in the region of £1.4bn, for a 25 percent stake in the club in the first step in what is being viewed as a staged buyout.
Jassim and his group offered to clear the debts and pay cash for 100 per cent of the club, but their offer fell short of the Glazers’ £6bn asking price.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is set to take control of a 25 percent stake in Manchester United
Sheik Jassim’s bid to buy 100 percent of United failed despite a £5.5bn offer
Mail Sport previously reported the Qataris tabled a £5.5bn offer, with a further £1bn to be invested into modernising Old Trafford and new signings.
Keegan told the show the Qataris have been left ‘very disappointed and angered’ by developments.
‘The Qataris set aside about $8bn [£6.57bn] for the United project,’ he said.
‘That money is there and ready to go, burning a hole in their pockets. […]
‘From what I am led to believe, they are very, very disappointed and angered at how this has played out.’
When Mail Sport‘s football editor Ian Ladyman suggested the Qataris should consider launching a takeover bid for Liverpool, Keegan acknowledged it would be the perfect response to being turned down by the Glazers.
‘What a story that would be [to buy Liverpool],’ he said.
‘What better way to respond than to get United’s biggest rivals from down the road and throw all that money you were going to throw into Manchester United into making them pay for that decision not to sell to you.’
Mail Sport’s Mike Keegan revealed were the Qataris were ready to commit over £6bn
Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, put the club up for sale last November shortly before the Glazers began inviting investment in United.
Three months later, however, FSG’s principle owner John Henry said the consortium wasn’t planning to put the club up for sale in the foreseeable future.
And last month, Liverpool sold a minority stake in the club to American investors Dynasty Equity.
It is understood the stake Equity have taken in Liverpool is estimated to be worth in the region of £80-£160million and does not give Dynasty – who were founded by Jonathon Nelson and K Don Cornwell – any say in the day-to-day running of the club.
Ratcliffe had initially tabled a bid for a majority stake at the club, but after a prolonged impasse restructured the deal to take control of a minority stake instead
The proposal will leave the Glazer family in charge at Old Trafford for the time being
Keegan suggested on Mail Sport’s It’s All Kicking Off podcast the Qataris should go and buy United’s arch-rivals Liverpool if they wanted to take revenge on United for snubbing them
As part of the proposal, which could be ratified at a board meeting on Thursday, Ratcliffe’s group will take control of the football side at Old Trafford with a mission to reverse a decade-long decline on the pitch.
And a number of executives could be shown the door at Old Trafford, with Ratcliffe expected to appoint his own staff.
Keegan told It’s All Kicking Off that United’s CEO Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough will be seriously concerned about their jobs.
‘There is a belief that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s team have their expertise there, they have a plan for what they want to do and people ready to come in,’ he said.
‘So if it is the football operation, I’d have thought people like John Murtough and Richard Arnold will be looking over their shoulders.’
Keegan suggested taking control of football operations at Old Trafford would offer Ratcliffe a major opportunity to show he’s committed to turning the club’s fortunes around.
United fans have repeatedly voiced their opposition against the unpopular US owners
‘We know there has been a period of decline since Sir Alex Ferguson left, that the Glazers haven’t got things right on the field as well as off the field,’ he said.
‘Ratcliffe will see this as an opportunity to make a success of things as he has done in all of his other businesses.
‘I think if you’re a United fan, you will hope there is a pathway to see the back of the Glazers and things have been that way for so long.
‘If the Glazers are going at some point, then that will be something they can cling to.’
