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Manchester United is one of the world’s most valuable soccer teams.
The historic club, which is also the most successful in the history of English soccer, was valued at $4.6 billion by Forbes in 2022.
But the Glazer family, which currently owns the club and is in the process of trying to sell is seeking far, far more than that.
Finnish Billionaire Pulls Out Of ‘Farce’ Bidding For Manchester United
The Daily Mail reports that the American owners are holding firm on their asking price of $6 billion. That reported asking price appears to have kept Twitter owner and general dork Elon Musk away from the team.
But it’s also turned off other prospective buyers as well. Finnish billionaire Thomas Zilliacus, who recently made a bid that would see him own half the club with the other half owned by fans, has since rescinded his bid.
ESPN’s Rob Dawson reports that Zilliacus grew frustrated with the bidding process.
“I have decided not to participate in a third round,” Zilliacus said. “The bidding has turned into a farce in which the Glazers, at the expense of the club, focus purely on driving up the bid to the 6 billion pounds they want for the club.”
He also told Dawson that he believes that the current owners no longer intend to sell the club.
“They have three serious bids on the table: Sheikh Jassim’s, Jim Ratcliffe’s and mine,” Zilliacus added. “The right way would be to negotiate with us three, not to ask everyone to once more submit a new bid.
“I think some of the [Glazer] siblings don’t want to sell, while others want to sell only if the price is minimum £6bn.”
That news won’t make fans of the club very happy. Manchester United currently sits fourth in the Premier League table and 17 points behind rival Arsenal.
The Red Devils have not won the Premier League since 2013. Crosstown rival Manchester City has five Premier League trophies in that time.