Club Sale | It’s done!

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Plant0x84

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So if you personally can't directly affect something you should just abdicate yourself from having an opinion? I don't think so.

Merely being against something and stating so has an effect, epecially if many people feel the same and are prepared to say so long and loud. Even if nothing then changes trying is very important as nothing happens if nobody tries.

Just because an owner with lots of cash and no immeidate need for an economic return sounds good in many ways I don't want fossil fuel washing to occur via the club, be it from the Middle East or a Russian Oil billionairre, not to mention the various ethical issues I'd have with such ownerships. The Glazers are terrible but I'd like the least shit new owners as posible and that certainly isn't from oil money.

If we end up owned by the Saudis or similar I suspect that will be the last nail in the coffin of my love affair with football. The last decade has battered this already of course.
Well said. *standing ovation*

More posters need to wake up to this fact. Too many are blinded by dollar signs and dreaming of huge transfers, which are fairly unimportant in the grand scheme.
 

Nou_Camp99

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What we need is cash to back ETH in the transfer market.
Only Chelsea have spent more than ETH since he joined.

What we need is a new / redeveloped stadium, the debt to be cleared and for football people to be running the football side of things not bankers and accountants.
 

Valar Morghulis

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So based off this speculation, assuming it turns out to be true and both Qatar and Saudi Arabia make a move for the club. The Glazers will then have two state backed bidders competing against each other to acquire the club. If so, feck me, how much is the club going to end up selling for...
 

Vault Dweller

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Well...damn. Expecting a bid from Saudi Arabia and then QSI and the sovereign wealth fund keeping an eye on proceedings too. Next few weeks gonna be interesting.
 

tenpoless

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He is waiting for too long, what is he waiting for? at this rate Jim Beglin will be the new owner.
 

Igor Drefljak

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Well...damn. Expecting a bid from Saudi Arabia and then QSI and the sovereign wealth fund keeping an eye on proceedings too. Next few weeks gonna be interesting.
BoS = Qatar
Institute = Saudi
Rail Road = Ratcliffe
Fan owned = Minutemen

Who do we choose!? I personally chose the Institute in my playthrough :lol:
 

Sly1

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The Athletic are quite good with their sources. I'm pretty sure all their journalists go through a certain criteria to make sure they have credibility to their stories.

So, I'll say the story from Crafton is well sourced.
Apparently,this is what Wikipedia says:

The QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new assets.[citation needed] In January 2023, the QIA have agreed a deal with FSG and are set to own Liverpool FC due for June 2023 (4b$).

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar_Investment_Authority
 

VP89

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I love how aggregators get people so excited.

They're rehashing a very vague article by Crafton that said little.

Qatar being interest and holding talks is information we knew from December by Ornstein. There is feck all development since then that Athletic really know of.
 

devilish

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Qatar will only need to find a rich business man to act as front man of a consortium financed by them. I'd suggest someone like David Beckham or Gary Neville. It would drive the locals mad. Then the front man will simply shift to the backroom playing trains which would allow the adults to take decisions
 

Sushi Kagawa

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Give it time and the Dubai rumours will start again.

Whether they bid or not, would they be able to outbid Saudi's or Qatari's? I doubt it
 

tenpoless

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Qatar will only need to find a rich business man to act as front man. I'd suggest someone like David Beckham or Gary Neville. It would drive the locals mad. Then the front man will simply shift to the backroom playing trains which would allow the adults to take decisions
If that the case then it cant and shouldnt be GNev. He is too opinionated not to want to get involved.
 

devilish

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If that the case then it cant and shouldnt be GNev. He is too opinionated not to want to get involved.
I am sure that the Qatari and Saudi can compensate him quite well for simply waving at the crowd and saying the right things. He'll also get a honorary job like President of Manchester United or something like that. You'll be amazed what money can do to people.
 

#07

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I love how aggregators get people so excited.

They're rehashing a very vague article by Crafton that said little.

Qatar being interest and holding talks is information we knew from December by Ornstein. There is feck all development since then that Athletic really know of.
Agreed.

Lots of people, including news outlets (and including the Glazers), have a vested interest in making it seem like there's loads of interest in buying United.

However, February begins next week and, so far, only Ineos has stepped forward to say it wants Man Utd.

Lets be honest, if the Glazers really do want £4 billion+ for United, potential buyers are not going to make up their minds about it like the day before the mid-February cut off. The Glazers announced their intent to sell in November, if you've got £4 billion or so you will probably have thought this through.

I just find it hard to believe that there's this group of mega rich investors who are still just going over it in their heads.

Maybe more will come out in the next week or so. However, so far, I read it as Ineos wants it. Other people have thought it over and decided they don't want it enough. So now its a question of the Glazers smoking out more interest to try and force Ineos' offer upwards.
 

Bwuk

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Qatar will only need to find a rich business man to act as front man of a consortium financed by them. I'd suggest someone like David Beckham or Gary Neville. It would drive the locals mad. Then the front man will simply shift to the backroom playing trains which would allow the adults to take decisions
Could 100% see Beckham doing that.

Does this mean Mbappe to United?
 

devilish

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Could 100% see Beckham doing that.

Does this mean Mbappe to United?
You're probably right on the first paragraph. These people would want to be represented by the best even as a front man. Beckham has everything. He's more 'controllable' (Keane and Gaz might struggle on that), he was a world class player, he's a celebrity, he's got charisma (sorry Scholesky), he can keep it in his pants (apart from a rare mishap), he's loved by local fans but is known across the world having also played with Real, Milan and of course in the US a. Why go for the backing vocalist when you can go for the lead singer?

Regarding Mbappe I am not that sure. The guy took PSG to the cleaners and is still moaning about it. Maybe even the Qataris would want to cut him loose at this point
 

acolyte

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He is waiting for too long, what is he waiting for? at this rate Jim Beglin will be the new owner.
This is going to be more like buying a house in a hot housing market. The seller will set a deadline by which they expect all bids to be in, and will then examine all the bids together at the same time before picking one. Being first to bid won't be an advantage.

Also it takes time to get the financing organized for a deal of this size. Even the Qataris and Saudis won't be committing billions without first knowing where exactly the money is coming from.
 

MUFC OK

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Qatar will only need to find a rich business man to act as front man of a consortium financed by them. I'd suggest someone like David Beckham or Gary Neville. It would drive the locals mad. Then the front man will simply shift to the backroom playing trains which would allow the adults to take decisions
Actually think having someone like Neville involved wouldn't be the worst thing in terms of giving assurance that the club's fortunes are in safe hands. We need someone with financial might, City will likely invest heavily and Chelsea are doing crazy things in the window and there's Newcastle as well.

Not to mention the added factor of Old Trafford needing to be renovated/rebuilt and it probably points to middle eastern investment.
 

devilish

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He is waiting for too long, what is he waiting for? at this rate Jim Beglin will be the new owner.
Things are usually structured with well defined stages in place so that everything is organized and no one feels cheated. Don't forget that

a- the Glazers wouldn't want chaos or potential buyers not bidding because their egos was bruised

b- the Raine group might have to negotiate with these people again on another deal
 

Rojofiam

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This would be the first time that an actual, historical, huge club would be landing in the hands of murderous, human right abusers...will be a very sad day for football, because previously it wasn't one of the big ones getting bought...Chelsea, City, N'Castle, PSG...hardly a Manchester United, Real Madrid, etc. size of club.

Hope it's INEOS or someone that aren't mass murderers or human rights abusers, otherwise I'll be done not just with United but probably football as well
 

Champ

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What the feck has happened in here? :lol:
 

Berbaclass

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Qatar will only need to find a rich business man to act as front man of a consortium financed by them. I'd suggest someone like David Beckham or Gary Neville. It would drive the locals mad. Then the front man will simply shift to the backroom playing trains which would allow the adults to take decisions
I heard somewhere Beckham would be involved
 

devilish

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Actually think having someone like Neville involved wouldn't be the worst thing in terms of giving assurance that the club's fortunes are in safe hands. We need someone with financial might, City will likely invest heavily and Chelsea are doing crazy things in the window and there's Newcastle as well.

Not to mention the added factor of Old Trafford needing to be renovated/rebuilt and it probably points to middle eastern investment.
Clubs like to have local people who are front men (ex Nedved when he was at Juventus). They act as a bridge between fans and the owners. Think about United under the Glazers. The latter would have had more leeway if fan groups were addressed by a United legend rather then, well, Woodward/nobody. On the other hand the former legend would know what makes us tick and could give an advice or two to the owners.

The trouble is when these local lads start intruding into things they have no idea on
 

Compton22

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This would be the first time that an actual, historical, huge club would be landing in the hands of murderous, human right abusers...will be a very sad day for football, because previously it wasn't one of the big ones getting bought...Chelsea, City, N'Castle, PSG...hardly a Manchester United, Real Madrid, etc. size of club.

Hope it's INEOS or someone that aren't mass murderers or human rights abusers, otherwise I'll be done not just with United but probably football as well
Historically, with European history, home trophies and the size of its stadium which pulls in a lot of fan support, Newcastle are a big club. So the trend has kind of been bucked already.

Though it would be the first of someone of Utd's status that's for sure. Could be Liverpool too.
 

MUFC OK

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Clubs like to have local people who are front men (ex Nedved when he was at Juventus). They act as a bridge between fans and the owners. Think about United under the Glazers. The latter would have had more leeway if fan groups were addressed by a United legend rather then, well, Woodward/nobody. On the other hand the former legend would know what makes us tick and could give an advice or two to the owners.

The trouble is when these local lads start intruding into things they have no idea on
Yeah I think knowing that someone who cares about the club is involved provides comfort to fans. Think Rio has mentioned Backham and Saudi potentially coming forward with a bid - he wasn't exactly subtle. Hopefully we have a much clearer idea of who is definitely in the running by the forecasted end of Q1.
 

AneRu

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Qatar will only need to find a rich business man to act as front man of a consortium financed by them. I'd suggest someone like David Beckham or Gary Neville. It would drive the locals mad. Then the front man will simply shift to the backroom playing trains which would allow the adults to take decisions
If Qatar or the Saudis really want to buy the club then they will, we just need to look at the unsophosticated fraud being done at City to know that if a state wanted to own the club and bypass a few rules they have the means to do so.

One option is to use a local businessman with 'independent wealth' as a front man, get one of our ex players to come in at the head of a 'consortium' and then jave their investment fund channel in funds to that consortium or companies owned by the said local businessman.

Companies like Amazon, Apple and Sir Jim's outfit being linked with a takeover. Given how corrupt people at that level are, what stops the Saudis or anyone from using Ratcliffe and investing the need billions via his firm whilst having under the table agreements for the eventual takeover after parcelling out their holdings in Newcastle over a few years? It comes down to whether they really want to or not but they have the means.

I remember this funny transaction where Abu Dabhi/QSI invested in a US fund that later later bought or is in the process of buying a 15% stake in City/PSG. Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Abu Dabhi have the capacity to do the same and use a fund based in the tax havens to avoid too many taxes.
 

DanClancy

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Looks at PSG's commercial revenue and compare to the Real & United. Doesn't take a genius to work out what's been going on the last decade and its going to have to continue as PSG for a couple of reasons will never match the really top clubs. The French league is obviously a huge hindrance to them for several reasons.
 

GaryLifo

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Is anyone considering possibly preparing a bid at this stage? It's like the transfer gossip but with Clubs rather than players
 
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