LONDON: Manchester United’s owners were awaiting fresh bids Thursday from a Qatari banker and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe after a deadline passed for revised offers to buy the Premier League giants.
Reports said bidders were initially told they had until 2100 GMT on Wednesday to submit new offers, but that has now been extended. It is unclear when the new cut-off will be.
Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber AI Thani, the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank, and Ratcliffe, the founder of chemicals giant INEOS, remain the front runners should the American Glazer family, who own United, give up control of the club.
Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus threw his hat into the ring on Thursday, with a bid he said will give fans the chance to own 50 percent of the club.
“My bid is built on equality with the fans,” Zilliacus, founder and chairman of investment company Mobile FutureWorks, said in a statement.
“My group will finance half of the sum needed to take over the club, and will ask the fans, through a new company that is being set up for this specific purpose, to participate for the other half.”
The Glazers have angered many United supporters by saddling the club with huge debts since they took over in 2005. They appeared ready to cash out at an enormous profit when they invited external investment in November.
However, they could yet shun the option of selling a controlling stake in the club, with other parties understood to be interested in a minority shareholding.
The Times reported US hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, which sold AC Milan for $1.3 billion last year, had made a bid to buy a minority stake.
A first round of bidding took place last month and it has been reported there are as many as eight separate potential investors in the club.
The BBC said several other proposed investors made their submissions by the Wednesday deadline.
No figures have been revealed but one or more of the initial bids was understood to be in the region of £4.5 billion ($5.5 billion).
That would make Manchester United — who have not won the Premier League for a decade — the most expensive sports club in history, although it would be short of the £6 billion valuation reportedly placed on the Old Trafford side by the Glazers.
Sheikh Jassim is bidding for 100 percent control, aiming to return the club to its “former glories.”
A source close to Sheikh Jassim’s bid told AFP he remains confident his bid is “the best for the club, fans and local community.”
Ratcliffe, a boyhood United fan, wants to buy the combined Glazer shareholding of 69 percent of the 20-time English champions.
The 70-year-old told the Wall Street Journal this week he was not interested in paying “stupid prices” for one of football’s most iconic clubs.
Ratcliffe, who already owns French club Nice, said his interest in United would be “purely in winning things,” calling the club a “community asset,” rather than a financial one.
He visited Old Trafford last week along with INEOS representatives, a day after a delegation from Sheikh Jassim’s group toured the club’s stadium and training ground.
A Qatari purchase of United would boost the sporting profile of the Gulf state months after it hosted the 2022 World Cup.
Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City’s fortunes have been transformed since a takeover from Sheikh Mansour, a member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, in 2008.
In 2021, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund bought a controlling stake in Newcastle.
Amnesty International has called on the Premier League to tighten ownership rules to ensure they are “not an opportunity for more sportswashing.”
If Sheikh Jassim’s bid succeeds, it would also raise the question of whether Qatar is shifting its attentions away from Paris Saint-Germain — currently home to the trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe — who were bought by Qatari investors in 2011.
United, three-time European champions, have not won the Premier League since Alex Ferguson led them to a 20th English title in his final season before retiring in 2013.
But they are enjoying a renaissance under Erik ten Hag’s management this season and ended a six-year trophy drought by lifting the League Cup last month.
Man Utd owners await revised offers for Premier League giants
https://arab.news/nqwj7
Man Utd owners await revised offers for Premier League giants
- Reports said bidders were initially told they had until 2100 GMT on Wednesday to submit new offers, but that has now been extended
- Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad AI Thani, the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank, and Ratcliffe, the founder of chemicals giant INEOS, remain the front runners
Brazil court seeks arrest of LA Galaxy’s Costa for failing to pay child support
- The 32-year-old Costa cannot be arrested outside Brazil, according to the court’s ruling
SAO PAULO: A Brazilian court is seeking the arrest of L.A. Galaxy striker Douglas Costa for failing to pay for child support.
An attorney for the Brazilian striker said on Tuesday in a statement that he trusts the decision by a judge in the city of Porto Alegre will be reversed. Details of the case are sealed.
The 32-year-old Costa cannot be arrested outside Brazil, according to the court’s ruling, which was issued on Friday.
Costa has played for Brazil, Bayern Munich and Juventus. He signed a deal with the Major League Soccer team in February 2022, and it runs to December.
Forwards Nkunku, Dembélé recalled by France for Euro qualifiers
- The two strikers were included in coach Didier Deschamps’ squad for upcoming European Championship qualifiers against Gibraltar and Greece
- France top the Group B standings in qualifying after back-to-back wins against the Netherlands and Ireland
PARIS: Christopher Nkunku and Ousmane Dembélé were recalled Wednesday to France’s national team.
The two strikers were included in coach Didier Deschamps’ squad for upcoming European Championship qualifiers against Gibraltar and Greece after missing Les Bleus’ previous games due to injury.
France top the Group B standings in qualifying after back-to-back wins against the Netherlands and Ireland. The two-time world champions take on Gibraltar in Portugal on June 16, then host Greece three days later at the Stade de France.
Nkunku, who plays for RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, has been sidelined for months due to a knee injury while Barcelona’s Dembele missed a series of games due to a hamstring problem.
Deschamps will be without the injured Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté, with William Saliba also missing because of a back injury.
France squad:
Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola (West Ham), Mike Maignan (AC Milan), Brice Samba (Lens)
Defenders: Axel Disasi (Monaco), Wesley Fofana (Chelsea), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan), Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool), Jules Koundé (Barcelona), Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid), Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich)
Midfielders: Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Youssouf Fofana (Monaco), Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus), Aurélien Tchouaméni (Real Madrid),
Forwards: Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Ousmane Dembélé (Barcelona), Olivier Giroud (AC Milan), Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt), Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig), Marcus Thuram (Borussia Mönchengladbach).
Hudson quits as US men’s football team interim coach, is replaced by Callaghan
- Hudson was appointed interim coach on Jan. 4, four days after Berhalter’s contract expired
- Callaghan figures to have the full player pool available for the CONCACAF Nations League final four
NEW YORK: Anthony Hudson quit as interim head coach of the US men’s football team on Tuesday, just two weeks before he was to lead the Americans in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals.
He was replaced by B.J. Callaghan, another holdover from former coach Gregg Berhalter’s staff.
Hudson’s departure was announced just six days after the US Soccer Federation said he was remaining as coach of the Americans through the CONCACAF Gold Cup this summer. The USSF said Hudson was taking a job with a club but did not identify the team or the role.
The USSF said the decision to elevate Callaghan, a 41-year-old from Ventnor, New Jersey, was made by Matt Crocker, who is leaving relegated Southampton to become USSF sporting director on Aug. 2. Crocker is leading the search for a permanent coach to guide the team through the 2026 World Cup, which the Americans will co-host.
Neither Callaghan nor Crocker was made available to media by the USSF to discuss the change.
Hudson was appointed interim coach on Jan. 4, four days after Berhalter’s contract expired. Hudson led the Americans to two wins, one loss and two draws. His five games were the fewest for a US coach since John Kowalski led the team against Canada and Mexico in March 1991 between the terms of Bob Gansler and Bora Milutinovic.
Callaghan figures to have the full player pool available for the CONCACAF Nations League final four. The defending champion Americans play Mexico on June 15 and Canada or Panama three days later.
Most Europe-based players are expected to skip the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which starts June 24 and runs through July 16.
Callaghan played at Ursinus and spent six seasons at Villanova, becoming associate head coach. He worked in the youth academy of Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union, then became an assistant coach in 2014.
He was hired by the USSF as strategy analyst and assistant coach in January 2019, a month after Berhalter became head coach. He had been an assistant to Hudson this year.
Notes: The USSF also announced exhibitions on Oct. 14 against Germany at East Hartford, Connecticut, and on Oct. 17 against Ghana at Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee. The games are on FIFA fixture dates, meaning Europe-based players will be available.
Sevilla, Roma’s Mourinho put perfect European records on line in Europa League final
- Sevilla have played six and won six finals of the Europa League since their first in 2006
- The Roma coach can make more history by becoming the first coach to win the Europa League with three different clubs
BUDAPEST, Hungary: A remarkable perfect record in European soccer must fall when Sevilla face Jose Mourinho’s Roma in the Europa League final on Wednesday.
Sevilla have played six and won six finals of the Europa League since their first in 2006, when the second-tier competition was still called the UEFA Cup.
“For them to play the final is a normal thing, for us it is an extraordinary event,” Mourinho said on Tuesday, though adding: “History does not play.”
Still, history also has something to say about Mourinho. The former Porto, Inter Milan and Manchester United coach has a 5-0 career mark in finals of the three major European club competitions, dating to 2003 and Porto’s UEFA Cup triumph.
Mourinho actually has more European title wins than Sevilla coach Jose Luis Mendilibar has total games managed in those same competitions. The 62-year-old Mendilibar’s career is peaking since joining then-struggling Sevilla just two months ago.
“I have had more opportunities to play in European competitions, but Mendilibar is of the same generation as me, with the same white hair,” the 60-year-old Mourinho said. “We are on an equal footing.”
Only one record can survive their meeting at Puskas Arena in Budapest, where the Europa League trophy is just the start of the rewards for the winning club.
Neither Roma nor Sevilla can finish in the top four of their domestic leagues that would have ensured qualifying for the Champions League.
Their only path to the Champions League next season — and the potential tens of millions of euros (dollars) in extra prize money from UEFA — is taking the group-stage place protected for the Europa League winner.
The high value of this Europa League to both clubs is in stark contrast to a Mourinho comment from 10 years ago that became infamous.
“If I win the Europa League it will be a big disappointment for me because I don’t want to play in it,” he said on being re-hired by Chelsea. It was seen as throwing shade on his predecessor Rafa Benitez, who weeks earlier as Chelsea interim coach won the 2013 Europa title.
Mourinho and Benitez are among four coaches who have led two different teams to win the 52-year-old competition.
The Roma coach can make more history by becoming the first coach to win the Europa League with three different clubs, joining his Porto and Man United (2017) teams. And this just one year after the latest team in his storied career won the inaugural Europa Conference League to make Mourinho the first coach with titles in each of the three club competitions.
Mendilibar has a more modest background yet has arguably outcoached Mourinho in his brief spell at Sevilla.
Replacing former Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli in March, Mendilibar became Sevilla’s third coach this season with the team just two points clear of the La Liga relegation zone.
Mendilibar’s Sevilla have lost only two of 11 league games, is one point off seventh place going into the final round this weekend, and is unbeaten in the Europa League after eliminating Man United — despite trailing 2-0 after 83 minutes at Old Trafford in the first leg — and Juventus.
Roma came to Budapest having gone seven Serie A league games without a win, and advancing to the final with a 0-0 draw in the second leg at Bayer Leverkusen, managing just one goal attempt compared to 23 for the Germans.
“I don’t think they need many chances to score and to win,” Mendilibar said of Roma. “I don’t think they worry too much about getting to the opposition goal.”
Mourinho fans can point to that being a classic quality of his teams — doing exactly what was needed to win.
Bayern Munich bring back Rummenigge to supervisory board
- “He is one the biggest figures in the history of our club, everyone knows what he has done,” Bayern president Herbert Hainer said
- Bayern were without a sporting director following the dismissal of Hasan Salihamidžić along with Kahn on Saturday
MUNICH: Former chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is returning to Bayern Munich as a member of the club’s supervisory board.
Bayern said on Tuesday that 67-year-old Rummenigge, a former player and long-time employee of the club before he made way for incoming CEO Oliver Kahn in December 2021, was coming back to ensure its continued success.
“He is one the biggest figures in the history of our club, everyone knows what he has done,” Bayern president Herbert Hainer said. “His experience, his competence and his international network will enormously help Bayern be successful in the future, too.”
Bayern were without a sporting director following the dismissal of Hasan Salihamidžić along with Kahn on Saturday, when they won a record-extending 11th consecutive Bundesliga title.
Bayern presented Jan-Christian Dreesen as Kahn’s replacement on Sunday, when Hainer said he would propose Rummenigge’s return at the club’s shareholders’ meeting on Tuesday.
Rummenigge, a former striker who scored 162 goals in 310 Bundesliga appearances for Bayern, won the European Cup with the club in 1975 and 1976. He also won two Bundesliga and two German Cup titles before leaving for Inter Milan in 1984.
He returned to Bayern in 1991 as vice president and was the club’s chief executive from 2002 until Kahn took over. Bayern won 14 Bundesligas, 10 German Cups and two Champions League trophies in that time and Rummenigge helped the Bavarian powerhouse increase turnover from 176 million euros ($189 million) to 679 million euros ($728 million). The public limited company behind Bayern posted a profit in every financial year during the period, helping to build reserves rarely seen in debt-ridden European soccer.
Bayern’s supervisory board includes Hainer as president, Jan Heinemann from stakeholder Adidas, Markus Duesmann of Audi, Werner Zedelius from Allianz, honorary president Uli Hoeneß, Thorsten Langheim from Deutsche Telekom, Dieter Mayer as vice president, former Bavarian state president Edmund Stoiber, and Rummenigge.
