Club Sale | It’s done!

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IRONTUSK

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ha sorry couldn`t resist.....at least most seem to have seen the funny side. Some people need to lighten up.
 

mufc_sd

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The question is, will we reach 2000 pages before an agreement has been reached?
 

Syphon Wallet

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Gonna be pain when we get the inevitable twist today, back to SJR is in Pole position blah blah blah.
 

sullydnl

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Chris Davidson, an academic expert on the Gulf who is a fellow at Durham University, believes the entire Qatar bid is a highly-calibrated approach that has been influenced by the purchase of Harrods in 2010. Now owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, the flagship department store was sold to Qatar Holdings for a reported £1.5bn. Sheikh Jassim’s father, the then Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, actually flew to London to finalise the deal with Mohammed Al Fayed.

The senior Jassim said at the time that Harrods would add “much value” to Qatar’s portfolio of investments, especially as a “historical place”, although Davidson points out how the state was derided for overpaying at the time. He believes this has influenced the United takeover process in two ways, both related to the image of the state.

One is over the symbolism of the price. The second is over the idea of giving the impression of some separation, to put more searching questions at a distance.

“They’re just calibrating their bid,” Davidson told The Independent. “They could blow anyone out of the water, but they’re calibrated to always be just a little bit around Ratcliffe.

"It’s a very different approach. I think this is an example of Qatar learning a lesson they found out the hard way on Harrods, where they were repeatedly pilloried for having overpaid. They really wanted Harrods. It’s a particularly glamorous brand for people from the Gulf. The status it has given them among their Gulf rivals – not so much in the UK – is enormous. They were willing to overpay for that. I’m sure they’d be willing to overpay for Man United, too, but I think this was a case of having learned their lesson.”

This then plays into another strategic purpose, which is putting a perceived difference between the bid and the state. It is all the more important given the greater focus on state ownership in sport, especially with Manchester City’s landmark treble victory and Saudi Arabia’s recent escalation in its sporting investments. One of the points that has been made about the Ratcliffe offer is that it would be much quicker and cleaner to do, as there would be no resistance from other clubs, nor human rights-related issues. The Premier League in March updated its Owners and Directors Test to include a new provision based on Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations in 2020. Qatar has faced huge criticism from groups such as Amnesty and FairSquare, with that debate framing the entire 2022 World Cup.

“By calibrating it, it just allows them to hover under the radar of being so obviously a state-backed entity, “ Davidson explains. “If they said ‘right, we want it’ just as they did with Harrods, and did a bid that blew everyone out of the water, it would be pilloried for being an uncompetitive offer that reflects badly on Qatar. It’s an ongoing calibration as far as I can see… enough to win the bid without attracting too much negative attention or too much attention it is ultimately state wealth.

“If they calibrate their offer, one of the talking points becomes that it essentially can’t be state backing. Otherwise they’d throw even more of it. It’s clearly a stalking point bidding process.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...ver-sale-qatar-jassim-ratcliffe-b2356420.html
 

BarstoolProphet

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Beacon of morality or just a keyboard warrior wanting pats on the back?
Considering he has made borderline xenophobic posts in the past which he was rightfully called out for (with the trumpish reply "you don't like it because it's true), I would suggest the latter.
 

mav_9me

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Thanks this is the answer I was looking for and the point I was making. Glazers can’t decide the price for what isn’t theirs.
My original answer didn't explain well.

I was under the impression, the price for public shares would be the same as what Qataris pay the Glazers for their shares. In a hypothetical example of 35$ per share for the glazers, I thought public shares would be at the same price.

I am not sure though. The answer in your post above is slightly different.
 

Blood Mage

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Still suspect it will be Ratcliffe. The Times are reliable and they say he's the favourite.
 

BarstoolProphet

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That is a reasonable view and spoken by someone that seems to know the Qatari strategy. The Shard is also an example of this approach. Buying United fits directly with their vision of using sports investments to promote their country for tourism and now investments. It could also be private of course (unlike those who stick to Forbes' criterias, HBJ's family empire is most likely big enough to take on such investment on his own), but would be surprised if QSI ends up buying the club themselves after issues with PSG is sorted and general hostility has calmed down.
 

croadyman

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Still suspect it will be Ratcliffe. The Times are reliable and they say he's the favourite.
They were saying that before all the stuff from different Qatari sources last night. Now much like most of the UK media are quiet
 

Smores

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Sad day for the club.
Feels like a proper gut punch, club as we know it is dead. For those who can enjoy the new state backed FM experiment I'm sure they'll have a grand time but it'll never be the same for a lot of us.

I said at the start of this I feel sorry for ETH. It looked like he could challenge on merit but now his success will be tainted by being another state plaything who bought success.
 

Real Name

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Before we know it they'll be playing PL games around the world and nobody will give two shits about the league anymore.
Exactly, with the way things are going more and more games will be played abroad, and not just the finals. Hell, Spanish supercup is being played in SA ffs.
 

Tiber

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fecking brutal if Ratcliffe and Joel Glazer end up running the club after all this
 

Licha M

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Quality control
Feels like a proper gut punch, club as we know it is dead. For those who can enjoy the new state backed FM experiment I'm sure they'll have a grand time but it'll never be the same for a lot of us.

I said at the start of this I feel sorry for ETH. It looked like he could challenge on merit but now his success will be tainted by being another state plaything who bought success.
Cry me a river.
 

Real Name

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Feels like a proper gut punch, club as we know it is dead. For those who can enjoy the new state backed FM experiment I'm sure they'll have a grand time but it'll never be the same for a lot of us.

I said at the start of this I feel sorry for ETH. It looked like he could challenge on merit but now his success will be tainted by being another state plaything who bought success.
Yup. :(
No other word than dead.
And the reply to your post above mine says a lot about the state and stance of good number of our fans.
 

cyberman

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Feels like a proper gut punch, club as we know it is dead. For those who can enjoy the new state backed FM experiment I'm sure they'll have a grand time but it'll never be the same for a lot of us.

I said at the start of this I feel sorry for ETH. It looked like he could challenge on merit but now his success will be tainted by being another state plaything who bought success.
Man spent 250m last summer and wants to spend just as much this summer, if not more.
I’m sure he’ll be ok
 

Nickelodeon

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Cry me a river.
Feck off. If you're happy to overlook any human rights/state ownership issue, that's your prerogative. But don't mock morally conflicted United fans. Some of us can't be bought out by Qatari billions.
 

VP89

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So here's how I see it:
--> reports from Qatar that the bid was successful. There was not a single tweet from a journalist or an outlet who had not said this months ago already.
--> people got excited because one paper was half owned by the Sheikh's dad, but that outlet too, had said that Qatar have it and it will be announced "soon" a few months ago.
--> Some more congratulatory nonsense from other Qatari outlets or persons who are not proven to be knowledgeable on the process whatsoever.
--> The twitter excitement (all from one party) leads to some trading volume after hours.

--> Faisal Islam (BBC Economics guy) and Simon Stone both agree that the trading is abnormal, but that its connected to the noise on Twitter.
--> We wake up today and the reporters who have generally been timely in breaking milestone updates (if not 1st then within minutes of the person breaking it 1st) all say that there is no update as yet and no one has been informed.
 

VP89

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fecking brutal if Ratcliffe and Joel Glazer end up running the club after all this
After all what? Kids or gullible adults taking Qatari sources as bible? The same sources that said the deal was done months ago and announcements were soon?
 

TrebleChamp99

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Yeah as expected the strategy will be that SJ buys the club as an individual with backing and then PSG will be sold or minority ownership followed by Jassim selling to QIA / QSI Win win win
 

Syphon Wallet

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Feels like a proper gut punch, club as we know it is dead. For those who can enjoy the new state backed FM experiment I'm sure they'll have a grand time but it'll never be the same for a lot of us.

I said at the start of this I feel sorry for ETH. It looked like he could challenge on merit but now his success will be tainted by being another state plaything who bought success.
ETH wants the funds.
 

sullydnl

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Feels like a proper gut punch, club as we know it is dead. For those who can enjoy the new state backed FM experiment I'm sure they'll have a grand time but it'll never be the same for a lot of us.

I said at the start of this I feel sorry for ETH. It looked like he could challenge on merit but now his success will be tainted by being another state plaything who bought success.
The really frustrating thing is that we're one of the few clubs on the planet with the capacity to compete with state-backed clubs without being a state-backed club. At least other clubs can tell themselves they wouldn't stand a chance without their state-ownership, whereas the more rational United fans can't. We have so much less to gain from state ownership than the likes of City and Newcastle.

Hopefully it doesn't happen but I would be surprised if it didn't.
 

Castia

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After all what? Kids or gullible adults taking Qatari sources as bible? The same sources that said the deal was done months ago and announcements were soon?
How bad have the British press been then? said Jim is winning about a thousand times and even was in advanced talks wrapping up a deal they know absolutely feck all

The fact that it’s getting on for 11am and hardly anybody is denying the story says everything. Stones went so far to say people close to the deal are denying it’s been done….because it hasn’t been done yet, they won’t announce anything until the papers are signed
 

Pexbo

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Reditus

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Feels like a proper gut punch, club as we know it is dead. For those who can enjoy the new state backed FM experiment I'm sure they'll have a grand time but it'll never be the same for a lot of us.

I said at the start of this I feel sorry for ETH. It looked like he could challenge on merit but now his success will be tainted by being another state plaything who bought success.
I think I kind of feel the same way.

If we get back to winning ways off the back of Qatar state cash, it really wont feel as good. It wont be the same level of achievment for ETH compared with Klopp and Liverpool

But I understand the importance to be rid of the Glazers, just happened to take selling our soul as part of the process. Maybe it was always going to be like that?
 
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