Man Utd takeover latest: Jim Ratcliffe ‘willing to restructure offer’ as fresh Sheikh Jassim bid ‘possible’

Manchester United fans are still waiting for good news over a takeover 10 months on from the Glazers announcing they would be seeking outside investment.

The Glazers never confirmed whether they would complete a full sale, but a £6billion valuation did emerge, and two serious bidders followed. Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim have locked horns during the bidding process, but neither of them seem to have convinced the Glazers to sell, with the process rumbling on with updates few and far between.

With that in mind, we have rounded up all the latest news surrounding a possible takeover at Old Trafford.

Ratcliffe’s potential new bid

Ratcliffe is said to be ready to tweak his offer in a bid to win the race to purchase United.

The English billionaire submitted a different looking offer to purchase the club compared to Sheikh Jassim, offering to purchase 69% of the club, allowing the Glazers to stay in place. That offer led to concern over remaining ownership, but The Mirror now report that Ratcliffe is willing to change his offer in a bid to convince the Glazers.

What that means specifically remains to be seen, but it seems the INEOS owner is willing to adapt in a bid to get the deal over the line.

Ratcliffe’s fear

Ratcliffe has already explained why he may be adapting his offer, explaining his concern over losing the takeover battle.

He said last month: “The Manchester United bid would have been unthinkable two or three years ago if we hadn’t had some of experiences — some quite difficult experiences with (Swiss club) Lausanne and (French side) Nice.

“You can’t really contemplate acquiring a brand like Manchester United and failing because the failure is just far too public and excruciating in a deal like that.”

Another Jassim bid possible

Ben Jacobs believes Sheikh Jassim could make another bid to purchase United.

“With the takeover, we’re just seeing a bit of a PR game because Manchester United are not succeeding on the field,” he told GiveMeSport. “Of course, the suitors are indicating that they don’t want to raise their value, which is something that they’ve said pretty consistently.

“Ultimately, part of the frustration of the whole process has been the smoke and mirrors and competitive tension. So it’s natural that the groups would indicate via sources which they have done so, that they’re not prepared to pay more, and Sheikh Jassim in particular has always said that he believes the Nine Two Foundation are paying well above the market value of the club, which statistically is correct.

“So I still don’t think that we can rule out another bid from Skeikh Jassim, simply because we got told after the final bid deadline in April, even though that was only a soft deadline, that that would be the last offer. Then we got told after the fourth bid that that would be the last offer then we got told after the fifth bid that that would be the last offer.”