According to a report in the Daily Mail by Mike Keegan, after the purchase of social media giant Twitter, Elon Musk is reportedly looking to make a £4.5 billion bid to buy Old Trafford giants Manchester United. The business tycoon who according to Forbes is worth $188.6 billion, had already sent the Man United fans wild when he announced on his twitter account that he was going to buy Manchester United in August last year.
At that point, this was just a joke, but according to recent reports, Musk is considering whether buying the Premier League giants is an opportunity that is too good to be let go.
The Glazer family to sell Manchester United
Glazers brothers, Avram and Joel Glazer who are actively involved in the functioning of Manchester United, put the club up for sale in November last year, and the formal bids are to be submitted to The Raine Group, the bank overseeing the transaction, by Friday. The Glazers bought the club in 2005 through a leveraged buyout that placed the club under massive debt. The owners have been subjected to a hostile approach from fans ever since their take over.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who recently left the club, also complained about the infrastructure and training facilities in an interview with Piers Morgan. He also said that the owners don't care about the club.
Interested buyers
Since the Red Devils were put up for sale, they have received interest from multiple buyers who have also signed the necessary paperwork to get access to documents of the club's documents. Jim Ratcliffe, the richest man in Britain and the chief executive of INEOS announced last month that he is attempting to buy the club he supports. There have also been reports of interest from investors in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.
Musk interested in buying Manchester United
According to reports the current owners, are expecting to sell the club somewhere between £6 billion and £8 billion, but the bid is expected to be in the close to £4.5 billion region, which would not be issued if Musk is actually considering buying the team. Musk had earlier said that the reason he would buy Man United was because they were his favorite team as a kid. He is yet to make an official comment on his desire to make the purchase.
Whether Musk ends up making an offer or not will become clear only on Friday. But, if the deal for Manchester United is signed at £4.5 billion then they will become the most expensive sports team in the world.
Another point to be considered is that Musk has been involved in controversy since his takeover of Twitter. Social media has been unstable since the takeover with multiple complaints. He has also said that since he bought the microblogging site, he has been having a stressful time. Whether he will be able to handle additional stress after taking on a football team is something that needs to be taken into consideration.
Though there are some that still believe that he has the potential to give the club the kind of growth that the current owners couldn't offer.
Manchester United's performance in the Premier League
Manchester United, who beat Leeds United in their last Premier League clash at Elland Road, are third in the standings and are five points behind Arsenal, who have played two more games. With the strong performance from the team the fans expect that with good owners the Red Giants will gain more confidence and get the right facilities to improve their performance.
