A consortium led by Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), announced on Friday that it had submitted a bid for the takeover of English football club Manchester United from Manchester United.

"Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani confirms that he has submitted an offer for (the purchase of) 100% of Manchester United Football Club," said the statement, which gave no details on the amount proposed for the Red Devils.

"Restoring the club's former glory"

According to the press, the club put up for sale at the end of November by its American owners, the Galzer family, could become the biggest sale of a sports club in the world, for nearly 6 billion euros.

"The offer aims to restore the club to its former glory both on and off the pitch and – above all – it aims to put fans back at the heart of Manchester United Football Club," the statement said.

If the offer goes through, the club will be released from its debts, which currently amount to €580 million, and its promoters commit to "invest in the football teams, the training center, the stadium and the infrastructure in the broadest sense," he said.

More offers to come?

QIB is one of the largest banks in Qatar. Its majority shareholder is the sovereign fund Qatar Investment Authority, owner of Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), which controls PSG. The son of a former prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, 42, has been presented as a supporter since childhood of Manchester United.

There should however be other offers for the club, while the Glazers were hoping for firm offers for this Friday and would like to close the sale by the end of April. British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe and his petrochemical group Ineos, already owners of clubs in Nice, France, and Lausanne, Switzerland, were the only ones to have publicly expressed their interest. But the British press took it almost for granted that an offer would also be submitted by Saudi investors.

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