Sheikh Jassim has withdrawn from his attempts to buy Manchester United from the Glazer family, potentially leaving the door open to buy West Ham United.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Sheikh Jassim presented a ‘fully cash bid, clearing all old debt, with zero new debt, for 100% of the Club’, but current Manchester United owners – the Glazers – rejected that offer.
Romano also suggests that the Qatari’s final offer was worth around $7 billion (£5.8 billion), but the Glazers are holding out for more.
Now, this news should be very interesting news for the West Ham fans. Sheikh Jassim was linked with a move to buy the East London club back in May, when his Man United takeover was faltering at the time.
The Hammers are currently owned in the majority by David Sullivan and Daniel Kretinsky, and are valued at just over $1 billion (£820 million) by Forbes.
So the 41-year-old may well now switch his attention to West Ham…
Sheikh Jassim withdraws from Manchester United takeover bid
Romano took to Twitter last night and exclusively dropped the news that the 41-year-old will not be attempting to buy Man United from the Glazers anymore:
Sheikh Jassim is the chairman of the Islamic Bank of Qatar (BIQ) and he is a member of the Qatari royal family.
The 41-year-old’s father was the Prime Minister of Qatar from 2007-2013, and he is an incredibly high ranking individual in his home country.
He has a monstrous net worth of around £275 billion according to Manchester Evening News reports. That is the kind of money that will change West Ham overnight.
Now, I’m all for criticising David Sullivan but in fairness to him, he couldn’t have done much more over the past couple of years.
He has backed David Moyes to the absolute hilt in the transfer market, and has remained in the background rather than telling our business to anyone who will listen.
That said, the wealth that Sheikh Jassim has makes Sullivan look like a pauper – his attempts to buy Manchester United are evidence of just how much financial muscle he has.
The prospect of him taking over West Ham is an incredibly exciting one. We are a sleeping giant – I have been saying this for years. And who knows, we might just be able to realise our full potential if the Qatari now switches his attention from Manchester to the East End of London.
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