Qatar bid for Manchester United now at an end – Will take the Saudi Arabia cash though as always | OneFootball

Interesting news on Saturday, as Sheikh Jassim has confirmed that he has no intention of buying Manchester United.

A blow to Man U fans who have constantly complained they spend next to nothing on players, despite the reality being that in the time the Glazers have owned the club, Manchester United have spent more than any other Premier League club.

Indeed, probably more cash spent on signings than any other club in the world in this time period.

report – 14 October 2023:

‘Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani has withdrawn from the process to buy Manchester United, Sky News understands.

He and Ineos billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe were the leading candidates to take over the football club from the American Glazer family.

Sir Jim was proposing to buy a majority stake in the Red Devils, which would leave two of the Glazers involved, while Sheikh Jassim wanted to buy the club outright and launched what his party described as a fifth and final bid in June in an effort to get the deal over the line.

Sir Jim said he has been a fan of the club since childhood. Sheikh Jassim’s bid appeared to involve more money but has also triggered concerns about sport washing.

The Glazers have owned Manchester United since buying it for just under £800m in 2005 – an 18-year tenure marked by protests and a conspicuous dearth of trophies since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, its former manager, in 2013.’

So, the Manchester United fans’ dreams of Qatari ‘sportswashing’ cash buying them success are now history.

However, at least they can still rely on the millions they receive from Saudi Arabia every season, sixteen seasons and counting, as this article on The Mag last month reminded us of.

For some bizarre reason, all of the media refusing to ever write about this fact of Saudi Arabia cash going into Manchester United all of these years AND it still going on.

Article on The Mag by Dean Wilkins – 29 September 2023:

‘I like Gary Neville.

I usually find myself agreeing with pretty much most of what he says about football.

However, he has one big blind spot.

No surprises that this (blind spot) happens to be Manchester United.

Gary Neville talking in a new interview about if / when the Glazers finally sell the club, with Qatar / Sheikh Jassim looking set to have ownership of Manchester United, The Mail with the quotes:

“The (Manchester United) sales process continues.

“We hope that the new owners bring stability to the club in the next five to 10 years.

“That they improve the sporting and non-sporting aspects.

“I hope the new owners can establish the right culture at the club and do the right thing to give Erik ten Hag the money needed to get the club back to where he needs to be.

“I am not opposed to ‘state-clubs’.

“I have not opposed Newcastle or Manchester City.

“I think (Manchester) United will be under greater scrutiny because the size of the club is enormous.”

You have to laugh at the levels of delusion that Gary Neville and so many other Man U fans (such as Steve Bruce…) have, wanting to believe that they are hard done by.

I agree the Glazers are a joke BUT we are not talking here anything like the levels of what Mike Ashley did to Newcastle United for a decade and a half.

Throughout their time owning Manchester United, the Glazers have spent more than any other club, unless the current craziness at Stamford Bridge has finally overtaken them.

Erik ten Hag has only been at Old Trafford 15 months and yet has already been allowed to spend £335m, with Man U spending around £168m just in this very latest window. Yes, poor old Man U fans, exactly how much does Gary Neville and the rest of them expect their club to spend???

As for the Gary Neville claim that Manchester United would be under far greater scrutiny than either Newcastle United or Manchester City, if / when Qatar / Sheikh Jassim buy the club, he is having a real laugh.

Unlike has been the case with Newcastle United, in recent years when it was heavily rumoured that Man U and / or Liverpool would end up with Saudi Arabia ownership, the media response was almost entirely positive. The usual media characters talking about what having moneyed Saudi Arabia ownership could help Liverpool and Man U achieve, rather than any concerns expressed about the identity of these possible new owners, human rights and so on.

This has been the case with the imminent / possible Qatar ownership of Manchester United. In comparison to what Newcastle United and Manchester City fans have been exposed to, any concerns / criticism expressed by the media about potential Qatari ownership of Man Utd has been almost non-existent.

It is all about how much more money they could spend and how much more powerful / successful Man U could be, human rights etc apparently not important enough to be mentioned, certainly not to any great degree.

If you don’t believe me, what about this as overwhelming evidence as to how Manchester United and Newcastle United are reported on very differently.

Manchester United are supposedly the biggest football club on the planet…Yet they have had 16 Premier League seasons and counting, of taking money from the Saudi Arabia regime and yet NEVER get mentioned when it comes to human rights controversy.

I have never ever heard Gary Neville mention this, never heard him or any other Man U fan questioned about it, never mind Erik ten Hag or any other previous Man Utd manager challenged on it.

Why do the media not see this as newsworthy in any respect?

Why are Manchester United NEVER name checked about taking millions every year from Saudi Arabia? I find it absolutely totally bizarre. The only answer of course is that the media treat Newcastle United and Man U VERY differently. It wouldn’t matter who bought Manchester United, the vast majority of the media would simply ignore any negative aspects of the identity of the new owners.

The Saudi regime / Saudi Arabia PIF, through the state owned Saudi Telecom, have ploughed fortunes into Old Trafford since 2008 and continue to do so, millions every season.

Then in 2017, Man Utd agreed yet another very lucrative revenue stream from the Saudi Arabia regime, ‘the General Sports Authority of Saudi Arabia’ in partnership with Manchester United.

Whilst advertising and sponsorship deals are of course a smaller affair than an actual takeover of a club, the ‘principle’ remains very much the same. With sponsorship / advertising, you actually take money directly in return for some business (and / or regime…) then being able to attach their name to your brand / good name…

Especially when you consider that this has now been going on for 16 years at Old Trafford.

Gary Neville says that there will be much more negative scrutiny for Manchester United if they end up owned by Qatari interests, as compared to Newcastle United with Saudi Arabia PIF ownership.

The facts simply don’t support that, these 16 years of Saudi Arabia PIF fortunes going into Old Trafford hasn’t led to a single serious mainstream media article written about it. Not a single journalist deeming it worthy of challenging Manchester United on it.