Glazers may struggle to sell because of poor form
Ratcliffe seemed to be the frontrunner to buy United before string of delays
Manchester United's poor start to the Premier League season is having a negative impact on the takeover process, with bidders even less likely to meet the owners' inflated asking price of more than £5 billion.
Discussions are continuing between potential buyers and the New York bank acting for the Glazer family. The British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and a Qatari group fronted by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani remain the two favourites to purchase the club but their offers of more than £5 billion did not meet the American owners' valuation.
Erik ten Hag's side are 13th in the Premier League table after securing only six points from five games, and lost their Champions League opener to Bayern Munich last night. This poor form, alongside a backdrop of off-field problems, is worsening the likelihood of a takeover.
There are a number of reasons why a process that started in November last year, when the Glazers first announced that the club were for sale, has not yet been completed.
At one stage Ratcliffe, the founder of the petrochemicals firm Ineos, appeared to be close to agreeing a deal but the legal challenges around limiting the initial purchase to the 67 per cent stake belonging to the Glazers is believed to have caused delays.
Ultimately, however, there remains some distance between the respective valuations of the Glazers and the bidders. While both the Qatari and British offers amount to more than £5 billion, the club's principal owners want more.
Sources with knowledge of the process now say that United's form and controversies involving Mason Greenwood, Antony and Jadon Sancho are doing nothing to persuade either of the main bidders to improve their offers. Indeed, the manner of the 3-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday served only to highlight the sheer scale of the rebuilding job required.
By the end of last season, United's value appeared to be soaring. Largescale investment is still required to improve Old Trafford as well as the club's training ground but winning the Carabao Cup and qualification for the Champions League suggested some stability and progress under Ten Hag.
Now, however, Ten Hag's position is under scrutiny, as is his buying policy. Key signings have been made using the same Dutch agency, Sports Entertainment Group, that acts for the United manager. At an all-staff meeting on Monday, the chief executive, Richard Arnold, urged colleagues to remain resilient while informing them that a strategic review was taking place.