United Ahead? – The Possible Sale of Manchester United
The tumultuous times of Manchester United seem to be coming to an end. On the football pitch, manager Erik ten Hag has vaulted the team into a near-guaranteed top 4 finish with English striker Marcus Rashford leading the way, a massive reversal from a disappointing season last year. However, off the pitch, there seems to be a mixed bag as the potential sale of the club has fans both worried and excited.
Just a few months ago, the Glazer family announced that they were open to selling the club in a move that brought joy to fans. In the past decade, United fans haven’t had much to cheer for as their city rival, Manchester City, became one of the most dominant clubs in Europe. Failing to win the Premier League since 2013, paired with a six year trophy drought has brought loads of negativity on the Glazers. The last straw seemed to be in 2021, when the Glazers along with 11 other European clubs looked to break away and form the Super League to gather more revenue and essentially destroy European football.
Despite this, the fans are worried about who will take over the club. Many bids have been placed, but two have come into public spotlight. First is from Sheikh Jassam Bin Hamad Al Thani, the chairman of the Qatar Islamic Bank, and the second comes from England’s richest man, Jim Ratcliffe. Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is the owner of PSG, which fans believe might create external influence on the club, and the same applies to Ratcliffe as he is the owner of OGC Nice in France.
It is also important to note that the Glazers took a part of Manchester United public, trading on the stock market under ticker “MANU”. It’ll be interesting to see if the Glazers sell the shares too, and the effect of the eventual takeover on the share price. This news has caused the share price to rise by more than 10 percent, and Man United might be an interesting add to your portfolio.
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I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.