Elon Musk is reportedly among the many parties weighing up a formal bid for Manchester United as the deadline to make offers approaches.
Recall that The Glazers revealed in November that they were willing to listen to offers for either a stake in the Premier League giants or an outright purchase.
The deadline to bid for Manchester United is on Friday, February 17, and Daily Mail reported that the South African, who is the second World’s richest man and CEO of numerous companies including Space X, Tesla, and Twitter, is wondering if there is an opportunity at Old Trafford that he should not miss.
He faces reported competition from Qatari investors, the Middle Eastern country’s Emir, and individuals or consortiums based in Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Musk has hinted in the past that he would like to buy United, stating on Twitter in August 2022 amid protests against the Glazers that he was “buying Manchester United ur welcome”.
While it was suggested at the time that he was joking, the 51-year-old South Africa-born business magnate later added: “Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U. They were my fav team as a kid.”
It is expected that a bid of up to £4.5bn could be enough to get a takeover over the line even though United’s American owners reportedly wanted between £6bn and £8bn to sell up. The report notes that dozens of interested parties have already expressed their interest and signed the necessary paperwork to be granted access to confidential data about the club.
United’s next owners will likely need to have money in reserve – up to £2bn, according to some estimates – to commit to redeveloping Old Trafford. This should be no issue for Musk, even though Tesla’s plummeting stock price led to his net worth being slashed by £150bn since November.
Should United fetch a sum of £4.5bn as expected, they would become the most expensive sports team in the world, surpassing NFL side the Denver Broncos, who were bought for £3.7bn last year.