![]() According to reports, Manchester United are the subject of a £1.5 Billion takeover bid by ‘Qatar Holdings’. Arabian investors are said to have assisted The Glazer Family with debt repayments before buying-out the unpopular American owners… Some speculation was mounted in late November that Qatari investors had assisted The Glazers in repaying £220 Million of high interest rate debt. However, little was made of the situation until this weekend, when reports emerged that ‘Qatar Holdings’ were ready to launch a £1.5 Billion takeover bid for the world’s biggest sporting brand. Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, after the Arab nation poured billions into sports infrastructure among other improvements over the last decade. In January of this year, United travelled to the country’s capital, Doha, for a week of rehabilitation sessions. The Emirates state was behind the recent shirt sponsorship deal with Barcelona, which will see the Spanish club making €150 (£125) Million over the next five years. That’s €30 (£25) Million a year. Last month – in November – Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill travelled to Doha. The boss, who gave a number of speeches, backed Qatar’s 2022 bid before it was a success, although no reason was given why The Red’s chief executive made the trip… Was it to assist in finding a oil-rich buyer from the Persian Gulf ? ‘Qatar Holdings’ – worth over £40 Billion – are major players in The Volkswagen Group, who are in control of Audi – United sponsors, Skoda, Seat, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, Scania and Man. The group are reported to be willing to invest £2.5 Billion in United, with £1.5 Billion allotted for the takeover, while £1 Billion would remain for debt repayments, stadium improvements, transfers, wage increases, ect. Manchester City, owned by The Abu Dhabi United Group in tandem with Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, would see themselves overshadowed in buying power – that’s if the Qatar takeover becomes a reality. The consortium are a sovereign wealth fund for the royal family of Qatar, with one of the main figures behind the group being the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani. ‘The Red Knights’ already failed in succeeding The Glazers, after their £1.25 Billion offer did little to impress earlier this year. However, a figure close to £1.5 Billion – which is now apparently being offered by the Qataris – would be enough to throw the Americans off their throne, say financial experts. Despite the excess sum of money that is expected to be offered, as spokesperson for The Glazers has said: “There has been no bid for the club. Any such bid would be irrelevant anyway because the club is not for sale.” There is still over £525 Million worth of debt at Old Trafford, thanks to The Glazers’ original figure of £750 Million – after they bought the club for nearly £800 Million back in 2005. Selling now would see them making a profit on their investment, it would clear all debt at the club, and we could buy once again. Fingers crossed. Discuss This In Our Forum ! CommentsSports_UpFront Sun, 19 Dec 2010 3:11:20 am This will be GREAT! Unlimited spending in the transfer window, no more debt problems, AND ARAB GELATO ALL AROUND!!! Welsh_United Sun, 19 Dec 2010 3:34:20 am Would much rather the club be taken over by Reds, but anyone is better than the Glazers. Reno Sun, 19 Dec 2010 4:18:41 am If the takeover is successful; there isn’t much difference between Manchester City and us… maybe we could buy like real Madrid but d fact is that new & upraising talents wouldn’t have d chance 2 taste senior team action…. I would prefer d current state of United where we r still able 2 have young talent make it through d ranks… Mctavish Sun, 19 Dec 2010 4:29:24 am wud love this to b true, but only to clear the debt, after that utd should remain a self sustainable club, they make enough to do this if the debt was gone tzshafiq Sun, 19 Dec 2010 4:31:54 am What matters right now is to see the Glazers out and United to be free from debt club..it doesnt matter who buy us. Baldrick Sun, 19 Dec 2010 5:53:19 am The popular rumour here in Qatar is that the country want to get one over on Abu Dhabi and buy the RIGHT Manchester team. It is also believed that they will keep their noses out of the running of the club and just use it for what it is; a good investment. kk Sun, 19 Dec 2010 6:02:07 am Even though i dun like the current state where the debt accumulated by man united but if man united being takeover by this group. the new owner might force the manager to buy players like real madrid and manchester city, and it might be a disaster in developing the upcoming talent in man united. beisde that, if what the manager said was right about the faith shown by the glazer toward the manager. why not let glazer continue to manage the club, if the situation in man united is not that worse. Jack P Sun, 19 Dec 2010 7:23:02 am Pete K- the story hasn’t come from “somebody’s arse”, there has been genuine feeling about this for a while now! Borba Sun, 19 Dec 2010 7:45:01 am Hay if they are willing to buy the club and pay off the debt and not stick there nose in United way or running the club and there philosophy the way Sir Alex does things im all for it. lets Sir Alex buy the players he wants and needs to fit United playing system and not force Sir Alex to buy players just to buy . Its a win For Manchester United red devil dxb Sun, 19 Dec 2010 7:54:14 am WOW THIS WOULD BE FANTASTIC FOR UNITED, IF IT BECOMES A REALITY DON’T BE SURPRISED TO SEE THE LIKES OF MESSI WEARING THE RED SHIRT red devil dxb Sun, 19 Dec 2010 10:00:24 am where did this rumor start? i can’t see it on skysports Sun, 19 Dec 2010 10:02:52 am Was floating around for a while. Gulf Times, now The Mirror. red devil dxb Sun, 19 Dec 2010 10:17:49 am cheers Kieron Sun, 19 Dec 2010 10:32:58 am I would like them take over but then dnt want them goin buyin players we dnt need just coz they can Ino fergie won’t do it but who is cumin in after fergie?? We dnt want to go out buyin players like messi Yh he is a class player but but it’s nt the united way we should. Be lookin for the next messi the next ronaldo mani Sun, 19 Dec 2010 10:41:28 am I welcome this move,and about buying talents and running team should be left to manager.And it will be the best way to recover our Ronoldo.:) Sun, 19 Dec 2010 10:47:53 am Id be glad if this happend.. When glazers took over its put back the club by 5 years.. Ridden with debt, having to sell our best players and replacing them with average ones.. Its ridiculous..! We have the worst squad in years… Ok where still top of league but its not a united squad we all love to see… We used to be the best counter attacking team in the world… We havnt seen that for along time… Rmbr when we had tevez rooney berba ronaldo omg..! What a squad… Get it sold GET GLAZERS OUT PLEASEEE.!!! stece Sun, 19 Dec 2010 11:16:23 am LOOK AT ALL THE PLAYERS WE BE able TO BUY on REALY I THINK. HOW COME SKY SPORTS NEWS DONT HAVE IT. I HOPE IT HAPPENS. WILL THERE BE MORE TRUTH IN THIS IN THE COMING DAYS. Darren Sun, 19 Dec 2010 11:30:44 am I like the sounds of it but I kinda don’t too, we’d be the new City. Fred Sun, 19 Dec 2010 11:34:16 am As long as these guys clear debt, dont interfere -its fine by me, no brainer! red devil dxb Sun, 19 Dec 2010 11:53:51 am i cant see them interfering with the football side, it wouldnt be in their best interest. why change a winning formula!! however they will definitely have their say on advertisement and sponsorship; if the deal gose through QATAR AIRWAYS will be on the jersey 100% plus other logos that they already own Krishan Ghedia Sun, 19 Dec 2010 12:46:59 pm I have to say, i for one am sitting on the fence with this rumor. the modern game is full of owners buying out clubs as if it’s there own little toy. But we all know that, thats not the case. Football runs deeper than just buying out a club and flooding money into the transfer window. It would make me sick to my stomach to see United being turned into another ‘City’ club in terms of transfers, for as long as i can remember we have had a great youth system and ethos and i believe this is the way forward and youth is our future. stece Sun, 19 Dec 2010 1:00:43 pm youth nit good enough when was the last man untied player to come true the youth and play weak and weak out john and macheda is there but in and out i say get rid of youth and spend big only we win things are youth our no good if they were GIGGS NEVILE SCHOLES WOULD BE GONE BUY NOW Lee YL Sun, 19 Dec 2010 2:31:42 pm No wonder Tevez the greedy bastard wants to come back. He probably thinks that he can get a 300k per week this time s7 Sun, 19 Dec 2010 3:08:02 pm This youth policy is a decoy used by Glazers to avoid spending. We were breaking Transfer record’s every year before they came in. And don’t worry about us becoming city( as if they were any better before money came in) because the new owners will not shut down the Academies and Unlike spain we can have unlimited number of Under 21 players so, kids will get chances. dream team Sun, 19 Dec 2010 3:08:14 pm DAVID DAE GAE Matt Sun, 19 Dec 2010 3:21:00 pm I got very excited when I saw this story. I’ve been holding out hope this would happen since crazy billionaires started getting involved in football. But I think fears that we will turn into another ‘city’, should this takeover materialize, are unfounded. Red1999 Sun, 19 Dec 2010 3:35:33 pm People keep saying that this takeover would turn us into another cITY I don’t think that this is possible surely we couldn’t get that bad lol. Let’s wait and see. Aaron Sun, 19 Dec 2010 3:57:24 pm It might b good but… It could result in us being like man city, where a lot of hot heads in the team can’t work together and we go sliding down the table. Yes it wil pay of our debt. But hopefully the likes of Rooney and co wil not want pay increases. Also Alex ferguson doesn’t change the whole team around he sticks with the ones we have like Anderson And nani who r playing well. But with the money we can get a decent keeper and a replacement for giggs, scholes, Neville and Owen. DAN Sun, 19 Dec 2010 3:58:24 pm HEY YOU LEFT OUT ONE BIT UNTIED WENT THERE LAST SEASON FOR A BREAK AND SOME SUN AND TRAING Kieron Sun, 19 Dec 2010 4:00:53 pm I really fo like the idea but just dnt want united spending stupid on players they dnt need and wat after sir alex is gone and cum on how long as he got left thts all I can think bout is if we get a manager who just goes and and spends just coz he can look at the likes of chelsea and city how many big money flops ave they had and only finding 1 gem out of 10 tht ain’t good enough for me united try and look to youth if they can just look wat Welbeck is doin at Sunderland give these players time and they will cum good sir Alex nos this tht they he sends them on loan instead of sellin just dnt want united turnin into city Niall “N.Ireland” Sun, 19 Dec 2010 5:32:45 pm great news there. i was over at the arsenal game and heard the rumour in the bishops bliaze. would love to see the youth coming through with obertan ando cleverly and nani all in midfield and use the money to build the stadium and the youth and also, it mind sound rediculis but arsene wenger would be the perfect manager to talk over after fergie. i think he will reccommend him because of his knowledge in english football and the football style. anyone else agree? red devil dxb Sun, 19 Dec 2010 6:33:40 pm well said matt, quite surprised with some of the comments here but i guess some have no clue who qatar holding is; to start with they have too much on their plate for them to sit their and think ohh which player are we gona buy now!! just Look at their portfolio, the abu dhabi royal family i.e. Sheikh nahyan represented by sheikh mansoour are no were near these guys. TRUST ME ON THIS THESE GUYS WOULD BE BETTER THAN THE “RED KNIGHTS”. Jairaj Desai Sun, 19 Dec 2010 6:55:27 pm I would love the fact that the dept is wiped-out but I don’t want to have a infinite transfer budget only the amount of profit United makes a an entity should be our transfer budget like the new FA rule. I still want to see the likes of Tom Cleverly, Magnus Eikrum, Danny Welback, and many others of our youth coming through the ranks and taking up the old guard positions of Giggsy, Scholsey, and other players older then 30 years old. G13 Sun, 19 Dec 2010 7:38:24 pm Yeah! If rumors are true pls get Manutd back in shape where we are out if debts! Not that the glazers are bad, but as a Manutd fan point of view it is good for our beloved club to be debt free and continue to build on our success. No need for buy classy players as they can be proved as wrong investments with huge financial losses. Seeing talented young players coming through and breaking into the first team would make the game much more interesting! And that culture have always been with Manutd for a long time. Tho there is still a need for a good mix of players btw the younger ones and the veteran players. John Sun, 19 Dec 2010 8:03:27 pm Uh, before we get all slap-happy, we might want to check Qatar Holdings out. Debt to equity ratio, liquidity to total assets ration, market share, business sector, and their general business success over the last decade or so. This could be a great way to dump debt…or could be out of the fry pan and into the bonfire. derek Sun, 19 Dec 2010 9:32:05 pm if this is true then it would put united back to where they belong,at the top,the biggest and best supported club in the world.i would love to see the look on those cocky ciddy plastic fans and mr cooks faces.they wouldn’t be the only ones with buying power. mufc_muj Sun, 19 Dec 2010 10:28:53 pm yaaaaaaaaay!!! bling Mon, 20 Dec 2010 2:36:19 am Any manager come after sir Alex will have to learn to manage the man united way by thinking youth first.Sir Alex learn from sir Matt busby and the next manager will learn from sir Alex. Manchester united don,t have to go out and buy 11 new player to win things because we are a successful team already,Chelsea and city have to buy big because their team isn’t good enough.all they need to do is clear off the debt and leave the rest to sir Alex. Hitch Mon, 20 Dec 2010 2:48:26 am So true bling m8 UnitedFan Mon, 20 Dec 2010 2:51:33 am Clearing the debts is all that is required really. We generate enough to fund any transfers required, but extra never hurts. Id personally like to see the debt cleared, Glazers gone, and the stadium expanded to 90k+. With Fergie there for another 3-5 years and Mourinho taking over long term, we shouldnt have a major problem. Alex b Mon, 20 Dec 2010 2:55:59 am Yeah this would be great to get rid of the debt but all you guys planning a team of “messi, ronaldo” etc is just a joke, we havent even been took over, none of the rumours have been confirmed as true, for us to go out and buy all big name players would be a disaster,id much prefer the way we do it now by buying players like ronaldo for 11m then making them to how they are now, not buying players for 80m! red devil dxb Mon, 20 Dec 2010 3:00:05 am @ john they are one of the biggest producer of gas to the whole world and there is only 3 of them if you didn’t know. £1.5b is pocket change for them. They usually buy businesses which has been succesful namely harrots recently. KarlosII Mon, 20 Dec 2010 6:59:39 am Good bye Glazers. But could the availability of so much money lead us down the route of Chelsea and Citeh?. Will we still see exciting hidden talent – Anderson, Raphael, Obertan, Hernandez… or will the pressure to spend 80 mil on one player to please the board be too much for SAF to tolerate? Marcel Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:31:38 am Don´t know how all of you have no problems that United could be another toy for a sheikh like City. I know the Glazers aren´t the best owners but they don´t interfere on the football side of the club. They do their commercial work to get the club out of debt and all of you have to admit that they do their commercial work in an extraordinary manner. Andy Mon, 20 Dec 2010 12:43:38 pm For me until the fans own a percentage of the club I cannot be happy. I won’t be happy until the government start to sort this out. If you are happy with Qatar taking over, you might aswell run around like a City fan with a tesco bag on your head and bend over. Mon, 20 Dec 2010 1:51:53 pm hilarious; 1st of all ever since united went public, the doors were left open for a investor to invest; it was actually very surprising that it took so long for a tycoon to buy out the club. i will be happy for one of the richest countries with 200,000 population to save the club into going down the road of them scourers. COME ON HH AL-THANI FAMILY. dan Mon, 20 Dec 2010 2:01:36 pm man untied not for sale say the GLAZERS manu4life Mon, 20 Dec 2010 3:21:15 pm it mean they wana sale but not for 1.5 billion Darren Mon, 20 Dec 2010 4:42:26 pm I agree with Marcel. red devil dxb Mon, 20 Dec 2010 5:10:28 pm Yeah it would be a good idea all right to keep united in debt and always be second favorites to our rivals, very wise. GLAZERS OUT Abhishek Tue, 21 Dec 2010 12:36:15 am It would be good if they take over and clear the debt. With new rules, United will have to use only the money they make from operations. So the owners would anyways not be able to influence the transfer budgets chrisw Tue, 21 Dec 2010 1:24:12 am Maybe Qatar holdings aren’t the perfect owners and there are risks, but on balance I’d prefer them to the Glazers. henzekeey Fri, 24 Dec 2010 7:34:00 am i really think as well that Qatar holding would be the same as sheikh of city with United. We don’t need that at united Glazer’s are much more satisfying owner than any who who claim to be some wealthy owner. Joe Sun, 26 Dec 2010 1:24:28 am When you say £1 billion investment in the club, how much would it cost to expand OT South stand to full capacity, I have heard around the £300m region. But there is nothing more I would love to see than Fergie with a budget just like Mancini or Mourinho. Comments are closed. |