Glazers prepared to play long game with the Manchester United takeover

Let's go to your piece, Miguel. You referenced Manchester United's takeover and their summer transfer business is shrouded in mystery because the ownership of the club as well is opaque at the moment. The lesson that Qatar has learnt as Manchester United take up a bid enters final stages on the independent web page here. Qatar is so confident they'll win the quote-unquote game and end up being the Glazer family's preferred bidders. I found this fascinating because the lessons you refer to are regarding Harrods, aren't they? Yeah, I was speaking to Chris Davidson, a fellow at Durham University, who's basically one of the foremost experts in the Middle East, who was talking about all this and the tactics used by Qatar in that regard. I must say, though, the words final stages there are used, I suppose, a little bit loosely because Craig was saying there that we could be here at the end of August talking about killing Mbappe and what he removed. But it could be similar with the Manchester United sale, even though this has already gone on four months. But I think that is partly because of the tactics that Dr Davidson referred to me in that, where Harrods in 2010 when the purchase was made, and it was Sheikh Jaseem's father that was involved in that, showing how interconnected this all is with the state. Harrods was a huge trophy asset to Qatar and they paid a huge price for it. Now, in the business world, from what Dr Davidson was telling me about, I suppose the rivalries in the Gulf that drive a lot of this, they're a pillory for that price. And they've changed tactic as regards some of those trophy assets since. So Manchester United, it's all been about calibrating that price. In the last three rounds of bidding, actually, I'd say two rounds, and in this third bid they've had since, it's always been slightly under Sir Jim Ratcliffe's bid. Now, Ratcliffe is basically, I suppose he set out a stall. He's not going to go higher as regards value, but he is coming up with all sorts of alternative arrangements that are appealing to the Glazers. Whereas on the other side, they do know that ultimately, I mean, Qatar's fund for this is really, in relative terms, it's limitless. The way Dr Davidson was saying, the way it's been explained to me by other people, it does feel like what the Glazers would ideally do is gradually drive the Qatari bid up to $6 billion, and that's where the game comes in. If that happens, it will bring up all sorts of questions. I mean, you talk about sports washing. It's a real question of the Premier League as well, especially given the fury at the moment. I mean, there is a little bit of a split in the Premier League now between Newcastle and City and the other 18, and a growing debate about state-owned clubs. So for Manchester United to be added to that, I think would open up to something much bigger. But I think we're still some way off that, despite all the noise last night that Kaveh referred to earlier, how that news went around. Even on Sunday night, when that sort of chatter first started to go around, getting other people involved there were saying, we don't expect anything imminent. And that still feels the case, and from that, especially if the Glazers are playing this long game, this could still go on weeks. So as I say, we say final stages, but as the process has already proven, that is a very fluid term in this. Yep, Premier League clubs may have questions about the Qatari ownership, but Manchester United fans will have questions as well, Craig, won't they? Because as we head into Wednesday, symbolically significant date, because the transfer window opens. Is this just indicative of the lack of strategy and clarity at the club that the United are in this situation, and potentially will now struggle to build on what happened last season? It's a real danger, and as a veteran of takeover stories, working in the North East, I'm watching on from a relative distance and smiling at this one, because Miguel touched on so many of the buzzwords there, just to give you a little bit of insight. I wrote my first Newcastle takeover story in November of 2017, and it went through in October of 2021. So there you go, that was a little shy of four years, and I see a lot of similarities with the Manchester United situation, talk of imminent deadlines, talk of preferred parties, certain parties edging in front. We had the farcical situation last night, where a share price actually rocketed on account of what turns out to be today, after a little bit of investigative journalism, a Twitter account in Wales with 300 followers. I mean, it's absolutely bizarre, it's got all the hallmarks, as I say, it is quite amusing from afar, but it won't be for Manchester United fans, as you touched on, Teddy, because Eric Ten Hag, at the moment, I think he's on holiday in Ibiza, like most Premier League managers, he'll be back at his desk next week with a view to finalising final targets and getting the wheels in motion with regards to recruitment. And while Manchester United are locked in this this, they're stuck really, you know, in terms of their summer budget, what they can do, what they can't do, who's going to be bankrolling that, and for Eric Ten Hag and their supporters they need answers imminently, as those reports suggested, but as Miguel has just quite rightly said, you know, don't be surprised if this one we're still talking about at the end of August, alongside Mbappe too. Yeah, it's going to be a big difference, isn't it, knowing what the budget is available for Eric Ten Hag when he gets back from Ibiza.