Man United for sale: Facebook and Amazon to compete with $10.6 billion Dubai deal

• Liverpool and Manchester United are two of England’s most successful teams,
• PSG’s Qatari owners have said they are open to offers for a share of the French club.
• Dubai has become one of the most likely buyer.

While the football world watches what happens on the field in Qatar, the business world is watching what happens off the field in Europe’s domestic leagues.

Liverpool and Manchester United, two of England’s most successful teams, are both essentially for sale, and PSG’s Qatari owners have said they are open to offers for a share of the French club. This has wealthy investors looking to make deals.

Both Manchester United and Liverpool FC are considered the crown jewels of football investment. Manchester United claims to have more than 1 billion fans around the world, and Liverpool FC is the most successful English club of all time.

With rumored prices between $5 billion and $10.56 billion, there aren’t many investors who would be able to buy either club.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund and a bid from Qatar are two obvious choices that can be ruled out. Each of these groups has already bought a team. Newcastle and PSG are already owned by these groups.

Abu Dhabi can’t do anything either because it has already put money into Manchester City and wouldn’t want to start a fight with a team that is doing so well on and off the field.

So, Dubai has become one of the most likely buyers if either Liverpool or Manchester United are put up for sale.

It’s a place that Liverpool knows well.

Dubai tried to buy Liverpool, but their bid in 2007 was turned down. In an exclusive interview, the former head of Dubai International Capital (DIC) said that Dubai International Capital “almost signed” to buy the club for $360 million in 2007.

For months, there has been a lot of talk in the UK press about how a Dubai investment fund might now be interested in Manchester United.

There is money, chance, and a desire to make a bid, so it could happen sooner rather than later.

Any possible bid, though, would not be the only one.

Credible’ Man Utd bidders

The UK’s richest man, Jim Ratcliffe, has an estimated $14.4bn fortune, is a life-long Man Utd fan and has gone on record as saying he wants to buy the club.

So far, he is the leading contender and the most forthright in his public stance.

Having been beaten by US investor Todd Boehly in the race to sign Chelsea earlier this year he identified Man Utd as his primary target.

Elon Musk is a left-field contender as the next owner of Man Utd.

In August the world’s richest man said he was buying the club.

To be clear, I support the left half of the Republican Party and the right half of the Democratic Party!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 16, 2022

But he said it on Twitter, and not everything he says there is meant to be taken seriously. Also, even if he wanted to, he probably has enough to do trying to figure out the biggest social media site. He said it was a joke and added that if he were to buy a soccer team, it would be Manchester United.

However, he is not the only tech titan who has been linked.

On Wednesday, it was said that both Facebook and Amazon were on a list of reliable investors.

Both the Sun and the Daily Mail, two English newspapers, say that tech giants Facebook and Amazon act like “credible” and “serious” buyers who want to buy Manchester United.

Both tech companies have never hidden the fact that they like sports. Amazon in particular has already put billions of dollars into sports around the world.

But investments made in the past were for streaming rights. Facebook has also given a lot of hints in this direction before. Putting money into media rights is very different from putting money into the teams themselves.

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Even though UK media have called Facebook and Amazon “credible” and “serious” candidates, the chances of either of them making a move to buy Manchester United are slim.

Both are losing staff at a record rate, and owning a sports team right now would be a risky move, even with the rewards that investors can get.

So, if no other bidders come forward, Dubai and Jim Ratcliffe will be in the same poll.