Amanda Staveley has played down a Saudi bid for Manchester United (Picture: Getty)
Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley has addressed rumours of a Saudi bid for Manchester United.
United’s owners – the Glazer family – put the club on the market in November but were shocked to receive just two formal offers for the club.
Sheikh Jassim submitted a £4.5bn indicative offer for the Red Devils and the Qatari investor is the main rival to Sir Jim Ratcliffe to take over from the Glazers.
American billionaire Elon Musk was also linked and it had been thought that a Saudi group was going to make a bid, which did not arrive before a soft deadline.
Staveley was instrumental in a Saudi-backed consortium completing a £300m takeover of Newcastle in October 2021 and has now spoken about the rumours linking a Saudi group to a takeover at Old Trafford.
‘I don’t think so,’ Staveley said at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit on Thursday.
‘That’s not my belief. I can’t speak for PIF (Public Investment Fund) but I don’t see that.
Man Utd fans have long been unhappy with the Glazer family’s ownership (Picture: Getty)
‘Looking specifically at Newcastle, we were very clear that we wanted a club with a passionate fan base.
‘We’ve got that and we wanted a club we could buy affordably. We didn’t go for the wonderful Tottenham, Chelsea or Liverpool because why spend billions?’
Meanwhile, the father of Jassim admits he ‘doesn’t like’ his son’s proposed takeover of the Red Devils.
‘I don’t like this investment,’ he said. ‘Maybe it will work well. But you know, some of my sons like this, they always discuss it with me. They’re pushing hard, this isn’t my specialty.
‘Let me put it like this: I am an investor. If it will one day be a good investment, I will think about it. I will not look at it as something you do just as an advertisement.’
Despite reassurances that the bid is privately funded, many have accused Jassim of acting on behalf of the Qatari state.
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The Glazers are trying to find a buyer…