Time for your daily Manchester United takeover derby update! It certainly gives us all something to think and talk about during this boringness that is the international break.
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe both submitted the their second bids to buy the club, but both parties fellow below the £6 billion price tag that the Glazers have set.
This comes from a report today at ESPN FC, which also claims that the third bidder, Thomas Zilliacus, is in the same ballpark as the bids from Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe, and thus it also falls short of the mark.
The article does not name specific prices, but all are understood to be in the neighborhood of around £4.5bn.
So while all the bids were improved, none of them reached the valuation that the Glazers have in their minds about this.
That said, this process is far from over, and a resolution can still be reached. An agreement, and then a sale can still happen here, but it may take some time. It is clear the Glazers will hold out for a world record breaking amount, as they are demanding £6 billion.
The all-time record sale for any sports club is the Denver Broncos, who went for $4.65 billion, or about £4.5bn, last year.
The Washington Commanders/Redskins are thought to be on/going on the trading block, and if/when they do, are easily expected to surpass that amount.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.