Fabrizio Romano has confirmed, courtesy of sources close to Sheikh Jassim, that the Qatari billionaire’s decision to exit negotiations over the ownership of Manchester United is ‘100% guaranteed’.
The Italian journalist dropped the latest update on the topic on X on Tuesday afternoon amid suggestions that the Qatar Islamic Bank chairman could now make a move for the Red Devils’ league rivals Liverpool.
“The Qataris set aside about $8bn [£6.57bn] for the United project,” Mike Keegan spoke on the It’s All Kicking Off podcast (via the Daily Mail).
“That money is there and ready to go, burning a hole in their pockets, so what a story that would be [to buy Liverpool].
“From what I am led to believe, they are very, very disappointed and angered at how this has played out.
“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.”
Assuming that the Qatari – whose family’s collective wealth is believed to number at around $275bn – is indeed a genuine Manchester United fan (though that is yet to be a verified fact), one might argue that such an eventuality is unlikely to come to pass.
READ MORE: Paul Gorst responds to suggestion $275bn-rich Sheikh could now go and buy Liverpool
Moving onto the Liverpool side of the equation, we’d be stunned if John W. Henry and FSG were prepared to sanction the sale of the club to such an individual.
Fenway has certainly already made clear at the time when they were considering potential offers that any new custodian would have to reflect our values.
In that sense – and also taking into account the fact that minority investment has been successfully secured from Dynasty Equity – it’s hard to imagine a world in which we’d welcome a bid from Sheikh Jassim in the near future.