Football: Takeover of Manchester United
By Amrit Johal Sports Legal Consultant London
It has been reported in the media that Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, who is reputedly worth £850 billion, is planning to take over Manchester United FC for an eye-watering sum of £4 billion!
This move, it appears, is part of his announced plan to diversify the Saudi Economy, currently dependent on oil, into other areas by 2030.
The Crown Prince is expected to meet the Glazers, the present owners of Manchester United, in the next two weeks. However, this timing may slip, given that he is embroiled in an international controversy in relation to the death of the Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, a former staunch critic of the regime in Saudi Arabia.
The Crown Prince considers that Manchester United is the most prestigious club in the world and, despite his current political problems, it seems that he is absolutely set on buying it, although the Glazers may well wish to wait for the Saudi Arabia present situation to calm down before finalising any deal with him.
The Club is already associated with Saudi Arabia through Saudi Telecom, who signed a sponsorship deal in August of this year reputedly worth £9.3 million over 5 years.
The Crown Prince, it is reported, is ready to invest heavily in new players, apparently with the intention of beating his arch rival, Sheik Mansoor of Abu Dhabi, who owns Manchester City, a traditional competitor of Manchester United.
If the proposed takeover goes through, the Glazers stand to pocket a handsome profit of £2.2 billion, having bought the Club in 2005 for £790 million.
It will be very interesting to see how this matter evolves.
So, watch this space!
Amrit Johal may be contacted by e-mail at ‘This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ’
