The Saudi Takeover Rumor Thread

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Massive Spanner

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MBS has already done that in the Saudi league.

He restructured every team in the best possible way to revamp the league. He brought back legend figures to each of those clubs to administrate any development closely. He's payed every debt that was lingering those clubs from going forward. In top of that he invested in them and urged them to try getting the best with no remorse about money.
Wow, that's great, who even cares about dismembering a journalist who opposed your regime anyway.
 

LoveFootball

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Life neccesitates difficult compromises. That doesnt mean we should actively welcome yet another.
consider the Saudi as another necessity to remain competitive in these modern era. As someone previously said, if the Saudis don't buy United, they'll buy another Premier League club; if you find it already difficult to fight against City, I wonder how you'll fill after 2 decades watching City and another rich club fighting for the title.
 

Trizy

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Nobody says they are the only country in history to be cruel. I don't want any other oppressive, dictatorial regime's ruling family to own United. I don't want the Workers' Party of Korea owning United either or the fecking Myanmar government.

Yes, yes, capitalism makes us all complicit in their crimes, you don't have to rehash the 'but you use a smartphone' argument. But I'd still rather not have my favourite team representing a regime - and it would do that since in this hypothetical scenario we're talking about the actual royal family, not some businessman who just happens to be Saudi - where public beheadings are still a thing. It's not a necessity of taking part in modern society, the way clothes and internet access is. I don't have to support a football club, not to mention that football club does not need the money either.
I respect your views. I for one look forward to seeing how Saudi's approach the modern world. By the looks of things (if the media/propaganda) is to be believed, the crown prince is actually trying to modernize the country.
 

TMDaines

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I respect your views. I for one look forward to seeing how Saudi's approach the modern world. By the looks of things (if the media/propaganda) is to be believed, the crown prince is actually trying to modernize the country.
LOL. Did you enjoy The Greatest Royal Rumble?
 

dove

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Isn't it just another thread discussing the same even though there are no credible sources?
 

TMDaines

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Hell, England has a history of being one of the worst countries in the world. Sealing resources from less advanced countries, enslaving entire populations and killing millions more. Judging by your moral high ground, you probably didn't know the above? Now that you do are you gonna become French and leave the country? :rolleyes:
I'm sure that there's plenty of us, myself included, that are ashamed of much of English and British history, and have our pride in being English greatly tempered by that. Between our current approach to international relations, the cost of my wife getting a visa, and much of our history, I'm not especially proud of being English or loyal to my country.
 

tonnas

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The drama in here !! ''Im done if this happenns'' ''I prefer to go to league 2'' oh please...
 

Adam-Utd

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No smoke without fire.

Would make sense that the Glazers have kept the club cash rich to fatten up the money they'll see in return.

All the people crying "oh i'll stop supporting if this happens how horrible". C'mon guys, football has been obscene for years. Once Abramovich started splashing millions football will never be the same.

I'd rather us have the billions than them buying Arsenal or Tottenham etc.
 

TMDaines

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I do understand, I just don't give a feck. If new owner come in and structure the club properly like the City/PSG owners I don't care about their way of ruling their own country, since nobody else does anyway.
Would you be saying that if an A. Hitler was interested in buying the club, with the benefit of foresight letting us know that the club was the benefactor of the products of a holocaust?
 

Denis79

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Wow, that's great, who even cares about dismembering a journalist who opposed your regime anyway.
They've done things ten times worse than that. It's just crazy that they are still allowed to operate as usual, if this was done by a poorer country their leaders would have been hit by sanctions or had their funds frozen.

Just shows the hypocrisy of the west allowing them to invest in western countries after numerous violations of human rights.

"It's terrible what you're doing but we want your money"
 

Siorac

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I respect your views. I for one look forward to seeing how Saudi's approach the modern world. By the looks of things (if the media/propaganda) is to be believed, the crown prince is actually trying to modernize the country.
It's hard to believe, considering the Jamal Khashoggi case and the royal purge sold as a "crackdown on corruption". Women can drive now but women's rights activists are still in jail and more are joining them.

Quite simply, this is a compromise I do not want to make. I am aware of the compromises that capitalist society already pretty much forces me to make and over this one at least I have some degree of control. I can't prevent it from happening but I don't have to support it either.
 

decorativeed

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Why don't you try and read other posts in the same discussion before you go on and spout bullshit. Our Glazers ownership struggles are not because of our ability to buy new players, the problem is deeper and the club is falling behind rapidly. If the Saudis are anything as good owners as the City/PSG ones, it would be best for the club I love. What they do and how they operate, is a well known fact and your own government helps them, while you go on with your regular life. What have you actually done to change that apart from defending your moral high ground on internet forums?
The club is in a state due to awful management at several levels. It's nothing to do with money. Everything else you say is repetition and boils down to the simple fact that you care more for bragging rights of a team a thousand miles away from you than you do for the basic human rights of millions of people. You can't take that position and lecture others about moral high grounds and supposed hypocrisy.

Just because you surrender your decency so easily shouldn't mean we have to lie down and take it too.
 

Infra-red

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I love all the comments of people against this saying they'd rather support another team or rather see us relegated to the lower league than be taken over. No you wouldn't, you big drama queens :lol:.

I'm for the deal for what it's worth. America is built on corruption and we're owned by Americans. Hell, England has a history of being one of the worst countries in the world. Sealing resources from less advanced countries, enslaving entire populations and killing millions more. Judging by your moral high ground, you probably didn't know the above? Now that you do are you gonna become French and leave the country? :rolleyes:


Here's 5 examples for you proud English supporting United fans trying to take the moral high ground.
Has the 19th Century British Empire been linked with a takeover of United?
 

cheeky_backheel

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If Leeds get promoted and stay for a few season, I suspect they would be prime target for a takeover.

Unless the valuation crashes, United is more likely to go back to being publicly traded than being sold
 

Wednesday at Stoke

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If Leeds get promoted and stay for a few season, I suspect they would be prime target for a takeover.

Unless the valuation crashes, United is more likely to go back to being publicly traded than being sold
You could buy Newcastle for the price of an apartment mortgage in London.
 

Siorac

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Has the 19th Century British Empire been linked with a takeover of United?
While Avram Glazer was in Saudi Arabia, Joel Glazer was spotted talking to Queen Victoria at the latest royal ball.
 

EwanI Ted

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consider the Saudi as another necessity to remain competitive in these modern era. As someone previously said, if the Saudis don't buy United, they'll buy another Premier League club; if you find it already difficult to fight against City, I wonder how you'll fill after 2 decades watching City and another rich club fighting for the title.
City havent spend much more than us on transfers, and actually spend less on wages than we do. The reason they're performing better than us is down to footballing decisions, not financial ones. Being (ab)used by a vile and regressive regime that will use Manchester United's good name to try and rehabilitate their own terrible repuitation would be bad enough if it were neccesary. Given that its not, going out of one's way to desire it is, frankly, repellant.
 

JonDahl

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I'm for the deal for what it's worth. America is built on corruption and we're owned by Americans. Hell, England has a history of being one of the worst countries in the world. Sealing resources from less advanced countries, enslaving entire populations and killing millions more. Judging by your moral high ground, you probably didn't know the above? Now that you do are you gonna become French and leave the country? :rolleyes:.
Previous actions of a government/leaders/regime does not mean that everyone else from that same country agrees with it and should be chastised in the same way.”, especially when half of them weren’t even alive. I’m sure whatever country you’re from has done some shady shit; are you a fecking scumbag who doesn’t deserve the light of day as well?

The argument is so stupid.

To compete the club needs to be taken over.
What the feck is this shit? :lol:

Insanity.
 

Needham

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We are talking about the royal family, not someone that simply happens to be Saudi. The Glazers aren't in charge of the US.
This is the central point to be made amidst all the whataboutery crap concerning arms and cell phones. What may happen is they'll palm off ownership through some 42nd cousin princeling. But same difference.
 

Maticmaker

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Rumours abound about such things and all must be taken with a pinch of salt... but there is only one faint, possible bit of truth in it all. That the Glazers now realise with SAF's departure their most valuable acquisition a serial winning manager has gone, hence how much more could they 'grow the asset' at United?
They might be prepared to give Jose 5 years to see if he can start to match SAF, but in the mean time sound out possible buyers. The Glazers got the club for £0.8B, its currently valued at around £1.8 to £2B, … nice little earner!
 

Snafu17

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Weren't Glazers supposed to be there anyway and that was the basis for the original romour in the first place?
 

Vadim

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The drama in here !! ''Im done if this happenns'' ''I prefer to go to league 2'' oh please...
It's quite funny I have to admit. No-one will actually stop supporting United because of it either.
 

RexHamilton

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OK, so obviously the Saudi Royal family aren't exactly the perfect owners.

However, if they were to take over, from a football point of view, it could be a huge deal for Manchester United.

Obviously, to compete with City and PSG and the likes, we don't need a takeover. Just owners that are willing to spend what United earn and not take a huge dividend every year, but aside from someone like the Saud's, who is going to do that? The only people in the market to buy a club like United are the Saudis or Mega Rich business families like the Glazers. The likes of the Glazer's are businessmen who are in it to make money.

City's owners and the Saudis, using clubs as passion projects to make their countries look good are the only people who can come into a club and spend all around them, without looking to take money out.

So aside from just having our own money to spend on players, what else could the Saudi's bring to us? You'd imagine they'd invest heavily in Carrington to make our training ground and academy infrastructure up their with the best in the world. They may make improvements which are needed at Old Trafford or even expand the ground. You'd imagine no expense would be spared on our scouting network. And all of this for us, unlike other clubs bought with oil, could be done without the risk of us going bust if the owners decided to pull out and without us having to cook the books like City.

I would prefer that United wasn't owned by the Saudis, but I'm not going to pretend I'd stop supporting United. So it would be interesting to see the benefits that would come from such a takeover.
 

Castia

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If they take over we’ll be back on top within 2 years. All the dodgy shit aside, and by the way it is dodgy as feck but from a pure footballing point of view it would be great.
 

Vadim

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It's not going to happen anyway going by the latest news so we can all stop getting excited (or stressed out) by it.
 

SER19

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If they bought us we’d win a title withim 3 years and almost certainly a champions league within 5. But why would you want that? It’s basically guaranteed. What’s the point?
 

beedoubleyou

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There's a huge difference between being a citizen or organisation who live in a country which has committed historical atrocities, like the United Kingdom has, and, more quietly, still does, than being bankrolled by a ruling regime.

Also, there's an equal difference between being lumped with owners via a leveraged buyout, against your desires and to the detriment of the club you love, and welcoming a takeover from an owner because of the promise of riches, no matter the cost.

It's right that some here, including myself, are alarmed at this news and would consider our position as supporters.

It's also expected than many would look beyond our concerns and think only of the glory of their football team.

However, shouting down fans questioning their position in response to this rumour with thick arguments and detrimental language is unacceptable.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but respect others too, the spirit of the game isn't moral depravity and corruption. Accepting and embracing that both are an immovable status quo makes you complicit.
 

Siorac

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If they bought us we’d win a title withim 3 years and almost certainly a Champions League within 5. But why would you want that? It’s basically guaranteed. What’s the point?
City have yet to win it.
 

stubie

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Seems the only way we can move on from Jones and Smalling
 

aganley

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MBS has already done that in the Saudi league.

He restructured every team in the best possible way to revamp the league. He brought back legend figures to each of those clubs to administrate any development closely. He's payed every debt that was lingering those clubs from going forward. In top of that he invested in them and urged them to try getting the best with no remorse about money.

He's here to compete.
I think most people are still living in the past and have this romantic idea about how things use to be.

Is football all it used to be? Do players really care about the club?

A good friend of mine once said: A man may fight for many things: his country, his principles, his friends, the glistening tear on the cheek of a golden child. But personally I'd mud wrestle my own mother for a ton of cash, an amusing clock, and a sack of French porn.

In other words would it really matter how we got back on top. Do you really think PSG or city fans care? Besides wouldn’t it be good to stick to everyone again.

Its just a thought.
 
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11101

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Calling President Xi... here's your chance to gazump these oil sucking sheikhs.
Might be a slightly better option but unlikely to happen. The Chinese don't need a vanity project, they don't care what anybody thinks about them, and nobody with enough money would want to be seen publicly splashing cash around like that.

It also seems like the Russians are keeping themselves to themselves a bit more now and any Americans would only ever run us as a business.

Unfortunately if we're to be bought by a sugar daddy, it's only going to be one the Gulf states.
 
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