Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani formed part of that process prior to walking away from discussions once it became apparent that an agreement would be impossible to reach with the Glazer family. Ratcliffe went on to claim: “Still nobody’s ever seen him (Sheikh Jassim), actually. The Glazers never met him… he never… I’m not sure he exists!”
Joe Ravitch – who formed part of discussions as co-founder and partner at Raine Group, the company that mediated talks – told The Times: “We met Jassim. He was in New York. He’s a lovely guy; a very smart guy. The Qataris were very real. They were very smart guys, very thoughtful. I don’t know why they didn’t appreciate the value [of the club] but we were not their adviser. We tried as the seller to explain the value to them, and they put what they thought was a series of very serious bids on the table.”
A major player may be back at the negotiating table, with Al-Sheikh saying in a cryptic post on social media: “The best news I heard today is that Manchester United is now in an advanced stage of completing a deal to sell to a new investor – I hope he’s better than the previous owners.” Said comments are being considered a dig at Ratcliffe and the Glazers, with it unclear whether there is any substance to the claims, with no sale noises coming out of Old Trafford.
When it comes to Middle Eastern money, United’s focus at present is locked on lining up potentially money-spinning friendly fixtures. They have gaps in their calendar to fill, and a £100 million ($134m) shortfall to make up, after missing out on qualification for European competition. They also tumbled out of the 2025-26 Carabao Cup at the hands of League Two side Grimsby.
They have midweek windows that could be filled by arranging games outside of England. The Red Devils earned £8m ($11m) in May from a post-season trip to Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong. It is being suggested by the Daily Mail that they could pull in £10m ($13m) from a visit to Saudi Arabia.
The General Entertainment Authority, who are responsible for bringing some of the world’s highest-profile sports events to Saudi Arabia and have Al-Sheikh at the helm, have released a schedule that includes space for a prominent football event.
It has been suggested that United could be absorbed into the Riyadh Season Cup, allowing them to line up against Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal – with Inter Miami having formed part of that event in February 2025. The Red Devils would earn £5m ($7m) per game from the three-team tournament – with even more funds on offer if they were to emerge victorious.
Another option said to be up for consideration is to arrange a glamour friendly against a Saudi All-Star team. Paris Saint-Germain – who still had Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe on their books at the time – were involved in a similar fixture back in January 2023. An exhibition match would land United around £5m.
Under-fire Red Devils boss Ruben Amorim has admitted that United are exploring warm-weather training and friendly options. There has, however, been no word out of Manchester regarding potential sale talks – despite serious questions being asked of the Glazers and INEOS – with Al-Sheikh seemingly stirring the pot as he generates more buzz around major sporting attractions heading to the Middle East.
