Sources around Old Trafford and Saudi have refuted claims that the Glazers want to sell the club to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman, but the mega offer could be too good to turn down.
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince is not seeking to buy Premier League football club Manchester United, the kingdom’s media minister said on Monday, denying reports and adding that there had only been a meeting with the Saudi wealth fund regarding sponsorship.
Reports that Mohammed Bin Salman intends to buy the club are “completely false”, the minister, Turki al-Shabanah, wrote on social network Twitter.
He was reacting to reports that the crown prince had sought to tempt the Glazer family to cede control of the club.
“Manchester United held a meeting with PIF Saudi to discuss (a) sponsorship opportunity,” Shabanah said, adding that no deal materialized.
On Sunday, the British newspaper, the Sun, said the crown prince was in a £3.8-billion ($4.9-billion) takeover bid for one of football’s most popular clubs.
The paper said a bid was first submitted in October but the fallout from the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s embassy in Istanbul put the “skids” on a potential offer.
It had earlier been reported that, Bin Salman, 33, reportedly wanted to buy Manchester United to take on Manchester City, who are owned by Sheikh Mansour of the Abu Dhabi royal family.
The country has already made investments in sport through deals with F1 and WWE.But so far its biggest play in football has been banning Qatar’s beIN SPORTS from broadcasting in the country. BeoutQ, a firm allegedly based in Saudi Arabia, has been pirating the beIN SPORTS coverage of the Premier League.
Buying into United would be a massive statement in the wider financial and political battles being fought between the Gulf states.
Bin Salman is the heir to the throne in Saudi Arabia, and is currently serving as the country’s deputy prime minister.
His work in developing greater equality between the sexes in his home country has been heralded worldwide, as has his move to make Saudi Arabia more attractive to visit for tourists.