Who are the candidates to buy Manchester United and how much would they offer?

After a prudent first bid campaign, the candidates to buy the football club Manchester Utdincluding the Qataris and the British millionaire Jim Ratcliffeare called to present a second proposal on Wednesday that should approximate the $7.35 billion to satisfy the owners, the family glazer.

That amount, set especially after the advice of the American business bank Raine -in charge of the sale-, will surely not be reached when the term expires at 22:00 (21:00 GMT).

In the first round of offers, in mid-February, the two main ones were those of the president of the Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB)the sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thaniand of ratcliffeowner of the petrochemical group Ineoswho valued the club at around 4.5 billion pounds (5.1 billion euros, 5.5 billion dollars).

According to the English press, the offers should this time exceed the 5,000 million pounds (5,700 million euros, 6,150 million dollars)after the main candidates came to visit the club’s facilities and met with its management at the end of last week.

That sum would already be a symbolic barrier overcome, since It would constitute the highest figure ever offered by a collective sports club in the worldbut it would be significantly below what the glazerwhich leaves the process in an uncertain situation.

The two main candidates for the purchase are known, but there also seem to be other offers on the table, although not necessarily for a takeover of the club.

the television network sky sports advanced on Tuesday that there will be “at least five offers and maybe up to eight”without specifying the identity of the mysterious candidates or the amount of their offers.

In the first round of offers, the US investment fund elliottex-owner of AC Milanwould have been positioned to help finance all or part of a purchase.

It is possible that other funds, especially American ones, appear on the scene.

The glazerat least joel and Avram (co-chairs of the Manchester Utd), have never ruled out the possibility of going ahead and not selling, despite their great unpopularity.

If they find a financial partner to buy the shares of their four brothers and sisters, invest massively in the stadium and the club, and to reduce or end the €580 million ($625 million) of the club’s debts, they could even discard the offers as they are considered insufficient.

The statements of Jim Ratcliffe Tuesday to Wall Street Journal they seem to lower their options in this race. “What you should not do is pay crazy amounts for things that you later regret”he dropped on an eventual acquisition of a club he has supported since he was a child.

ratcliffe has stood out in recent years for its investments in sport, be it with the clubs of the Nice (France) or the lausanne (Switzerland), or with the cycling team Ineos Grenadiers.

I would aspire to assume the part of the family glazer in the club, that is to say 69%, while his Qatari rival is considering the acquisition of 100% of the club. If the glazer are based solely on the sum received, the Qatari option seems to have an advantage.

In addition, to finance their offer they would not have to go through a banking sector whose climate is currently very tense, after the bankruptcy of three US banks and the urgent purchase of Credit Suisse by UBS.

It cannot be ruled out that the agreement that seemed to have ratcliffe with US banks Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan to finance your offer has been affected by the current turmoil.

The glazer they seem determined not to sell before the end of the season and could even lead the candidates to a third round in this particular ‘auction’.

He Manchester Utd He also seems to be in good sporting health. He is third in the Premier Leaguewon the League Cup and is qualified for the quarterfinals in the europa league and for the semifinals in the england cup.