Dr. Aakash Makkar

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS expected to run Manchester United’s football operations as part of deal to buy 25 per cent of the club. They want to buy United in a phased takeover and their 25 per cent stake is seen as first step in that process. Outstanding questions for Ratcliffe and INEOS: Where is the £1.3 billion coming from? Is it being borrowed? If so, who will be responsible for paying it back? How long will it take them to own the whole club? When will the Glazers be leaving? Are they definitely going? What role are Ratcliffe’s advisers JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs playing in the deal? How much are they making? Who’s paying them? (JP Morgan worked with Malcolm Glazer when he bought United in controversial £790 million LBO 18 years ago? They also backed the doomed European Super League project in 2021.) What will the money be spent on? Is it all going to the Glazers, apart from what will be going to owners of A shares which are traded on NYSE? What is going to happen to United’s debt which was £969 million in March? (United were debt free before Glazers arrived and their ownership has cost United more than £1 billion in interest, dividends and bank charges.) What are their plans for redeveloping Old Trafford and the training ground? Are INEOS using their sports investments to greenwash their image as an operator of polluting industries? What will happen to Nice and Lausanne - the other clubs owned by INEOS? Ratcliffe has met Erik ten Hag. How much faith does he have in the manager? Will money be made available to strengthen the squad? What will Dave Brailsford’s role be at United? Will there be a new sporting director? Which executives will be staying and who will be going?

Sheikh Jassim walked away from deal for Manchester United after refusing to pay more than double what the club is worth. One source says: “What is happening is totally unreal. The Glazers valuation is insanely fanciful. Sheikh Jassim offered them almost double the market capitalisation. He was a cash buyer, he was going to clear all their debts, there would have been no new debt and he was going to put in another £1.4 billion for the stadium and the team. “All that still wasn’t enough for the Glazers. What we’re left with now, after almost a year, is someone who is going to overpay for 25 per cent of the club. They are arguably the greatest and most historic football club on the planet and after a year there’s just one bidder and he can only stump up enough for 25 per cent. “It’s a joke. If they just wanted to sell a minority stake, they could have done it privately last November. The market dictates what United are worth, not the Glazers or Raine. Remember when there were apparently eight serious bidders? All along there has only been one bidder for 100 per cent of the club so why should he bid against himself? “Ratcliffe is overpaying and any valuation higher than Sheikh Jassim is sheer lunacy. “If he can only afford to buy 25 per cent to start with, who is going to pay for the new stadium? Who is going to fix the leaking roof? Who is going to pay for the new training centre and new players and community projects? “United can’t keep up with Brighton these days, never mind Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal. And don’t even think about the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. “And if they go with Ratcliffe, they get another shareholder. How does that help decision making? Where is the new vision and the new ambition? Where is the new engagement with the fans? “Sheikh Jassim tried to bridge the gap between reality and lunacy on valuation. He did his best.”