PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi is reportedly vouching for Sheikh Jassim to emerge as the new owner of Manchester United.
As per the Athletic, the football investor has met with the Glazers and Raine Group to discuss Sheikh Jassim’s bid for Manchester United and also influence his chances of beating Sir Jim Ratcliffe in the race.
Sheikh Jassim submitted a fifth bid for Manchester United which met the Glazers £6bn demand for the club.
The fifth bid is said to have been tabled by Sheikh Jassim after Nasser Al-Khelaifi was contacted by the Glazers to ask Sheikh Jassim to increase his bid for the club.
The approach by the Glazers has given Nasser Al-Khelaifi the morale to play a significant role in the Manchester United takeover process.
As things stand, it is pretty evident, the Glazers are ready to sell Manchester United to the highest bidder.
What is the relationship between Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al-Thani?
Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al-Thani shot himself into the spotlight when he emerged as a top contender in the race to take over Manchester United after he launched his first £4.5bn bid to rival UK billionaire and Ineos owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s bid.
As expected, a lot of questions were asked as to his background, interests and source of funds.
Notably, Sheikh Jassim stole the spotlights in the Manchester United takeover race because it was believed he is independent of Qatari state-backed investment authorities, who are gradually pulling heavy influence in European football through investments.
Nevertheless, his links to the state-backed Qatari investment joggernauts – Qatar sovereign wealth fund – was still under scrutiny.
A clear line relationship would have weighed heavily on his chances of becoming Manchester United new owner from the start due to UEFA guidelines which prevent European clubs from being owned by a single entity.
Recent developments in the Manchester United takeover race has prompted a revisit of the link between Sheik Jassim’s bid and Qatari interests, who are heavily involved at PSG.
According to David Ornstein of the Athletic, PSG President, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, has played a big role in Sheikh Jassim’s bid to take over Manchester United as the Glazers pushed for a better offer from suitors.
The Glazers reportedly met Nasser asking him to convince Sheikh Jassim to table an increased bid for the club. Nasser Al-Khelaifi immediately swung into action and Sheikh Jassim’s fifth bid, arrived in a flash, meeting the Glazers’ £6bn valuation of Manchester United.
Now, it been has confirmed Nasser Al-Khelaifi is pulling a big influence in the takeover process and has met with the Glazers and Raine Group to discuss Sheikh Jassim’s takeover offer and also talk the American investors into selling the club to Sheikh Jassim.
The relationship between Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Sheikh Jassim
It is still unclear whether the two Qatari investors share a relationship on a personal level but we understand they are countrymen.
Meanwhile, it doesn’t require much of an intuition to pinpoint the fact that Sheikh Jassim and Nasser Al-Khelaifi are connected to the Qatari interests, who are in charge of the ownership of PSG.
Qatar Sports Authority, QSA, are the owners of PSG. The Chairman of Qatar Sports Authority is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who is also the President of PSG.
Now, the Qatar Sports Authority, is owned by Qatar Investment Authority, QIA, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund worth £374bn.
The Qatar Investment Authority is linked to Qatar Islamic Bank, QIB. They are the largest shareholders of the Qatar Islamic Bank with 17.7% of stocks.
Sheikh Jassim’s father, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, was a former Prime Minister of Qatar and a former Chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank, the seat of funds that oils Qatar Investment Authority and then Qatar Sports Authority, chaired by Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the President of PSG.
With Sheikh Jassim closing in on taking over as Manchester United new owner, it is still unclear whether UEFA will swing into action to prevent the move which could see Manchester United and PSG owned by the same entity.
Meanwhile, Premier League clubs are reportedly freaked out by Sheikh Jassim’s £6 billion bid for Manchester United and investigations into his source of funds have begun.
