Qatar will make a bid to buy Man Utd this week, according to fresh reports in the UK press.
The US bank acting as Man Utd’s exclusive financial advisor on the sale, The Raine Group, set a soft deadline of Friday, February 17 for any interested parties to submit a bid.
So far, only British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has made an official expression of interest in Man Utd.
Qatar Man Utd takeover plan
However, with the deadline fast approaching Qatar are set to make their interest in Man Utd official according to The Telegraph newspaper.
The British newspaper has identified Qatar Investment Authority as the vehicle for an imminent bid, saying that the $550bn sovereign investment fund put talks on hold while the Gulf nation hosted the World Cup.
With the tournament declared a success and Man Utd’s deadline fast approaching the opening bid will be made any day now.
Qatar’s potential ownership of Man Utd had been thrown into doubt by UEFA rules of club ownership.
UEFA, the governing body that rules European football, does not currently allow clubs in the same competition to be owned by the same person or group.
With Man Utd and PSG both currently competing to enter into the Champions League, Europe’s top tier club competition, that would preclude them from both having the same owner.
The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is already the owner of PSG, having bought the club outright in stages between 2011 and 2012.
However, insiders in Qatar are confident the hurdle can be overcome as there is already a precedent in European football.
Red Bull Salzburg of Austria and Red Bull Leipzig are owned by different companies under the Red Bull GmbH umbrella organisation.
The two sides faced off against each other in a Europa League game in 2018, despite having the same ultimate owner.
Sheikh Tamim is in Europe having paid a diplomatic visit tor Rome. He is expected to attend PSG’s Champions League match against Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
The bidding process will officially begin after Friday’s deadline for submissions.
According to Sky Sports, the official broadcaster of English Premier League matches in the UK, bids will consist of a single paragraph stating the amount offered and a proof of funds available.
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