It’s understood that Sheikh Jasiim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe are considered the main contenders to take full control of Manchester United away from the Glazers.
At the very least, beyond Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus and US hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, they are the only parties to have gone public with their interest in the Red Devils.
Should any bid potentially fail, however, it does raise the question as to the possibility of investment being targeted elsewhere, perhaps still in the English top-flight – perhaps, dare we say it, with Liverpool.
Who are the United bidders?
- Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani: looking for a full takeover
- Sir Jim Ratcliffe: looking for a full takeover
- Thomas Zilliacus: wishes to purchase half the club and have the other 50% funded by fans
- Elliott Investment Management: wishes to purchase a minority stake in the club
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FSG’s position on the matter
With the summer window fast approaching and no sight of a potential bidder committed to meeting Fenway Sports Group’s valuation of Liverpool Football Club (reportedly valued at $4.45bn (£3.6bn), according to Forbes), John Henry and Co. pulled the plug on the prospect of a full sale.
That being said, the Americans remain keen on attracting minority investment ahead of what will likely be a critical period of change for the squad beyond the end of the season.
Recent reports have suggested that our owners could turn to F1 owners Liberty Media to secure the desired investment, though it remains unclear exactly how advanced talks (if any have even taken place) are with the company or any other potential candidate.
Given that we’ve stepped away from a full takeover, it seems highly unlikely that FSG will consider a full bid from any of the main contenders in the race to snap up Manchester United, barring, perhaps, Elliott Investment Management given that the organisation has already signposted its willingness to provide financing in the event that the Glazers remain in control.
That seems the likeliest avenue that our ownership will welcome in case other prospects fail to get off the ground ahead of the summer.
According to Elliott’s website, the group ‘manages approximately $55.2 billion in assets’ (as of December 31 2022) and have already made clear to the Glazers that they would prepared to lend the Red Devils the necessary finances to complete major projects like the redevelopment of Old Trafford (as has been reported by Kaveh Solhekol at Sky Sports).
Though only a minor connection, it’s worth noting that Elliott have had some dealings with a key figure in Fenway’s sphere, selling AC Milan to FSG stakeholders RedBird Capital last year.
Whether that would offer John Henry and Co. some encouragement in terms of putting feelers out to gauge their interest in moving investment across the M62 to Liverpool remains to be seen.