• Is Elon Musk going to buy Manchester United?
• Musk tweeted shortly after 1:00 BST on Wednesday: “Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome.”
• Forbes valued the Manchester United team at $4.6 billion (£3.8 billion) earlier this year.

Elon Musk, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes to be $270 billion (£223 billion), wrote on Twitter shortly after 1:00 BST on Wednesday: “Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome.”

As the American’s tweet received more than 400,000 likes, the social network descended into chaos.

United’s new season has had a difficult beginning.

Their key player Cristiano Ronaldo may go, they are currently last in the Premier League, and new signings aren’t materialising.

Their supporters are disgruntled, and earlier this week the Manchester United Supporters Trust declared that after a “humiliatingly bad” start to the season, it will “demand answers” from those in charge of the team.

Fingers have been pointed at the Glazer family, who have owned the club since 2005, for the deterioration the club has seen since Sir Alex Ferguson retired as manager in 2013.

Numerous protests have been held in recent years against the Glazers’ ownership, including one in May 2021 that forced the Red Devils’ game against Liverpool to be postponed.

On Monday, during United’s most recent match against their fiercest rivals, supporters are preparing a new demonstration against the American family.

Some supporters applauded Musk’s interest in their team, which Forbes valued at $4.6 billion (£3.8 billion) earlier this year.

Given that Musk also owns the electric vehicle maker Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX, some supporters questioned what a club run by Musk would look like.

Musk entering the football world was a fleeting thought, though.

Musk, who has more than 103 million Twitter followers and is currently attempting to withdraw his $44 billion (£36.3 billion) purchase bid, later stated he was joking.

United, meanwhile, chose not to address the rumours.

Musk was asked if he was awake as the UK was waking up “When questioned if she was “serious” about the offer, she responded at 5:34 BST: “No, this is a running joke on Twitter. No sports franchises are mine to own.”

He continued, “Stand-up is my side-hustle.”

However, as evidenced by his tweets supporting the Red Devils: “Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U. They were my fav team as a kid.”

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