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Man Utd takeover candidate 'looking at other clubs' as the Glazers continue to drag feet
One of Manchester United's takeover hopefuls has grown impatient at the Glazers' long, drawn-out selection process.
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Manchester United takeover hopeful Thomas Zilliacus admits that he is considering opportunities to invest in other football clubs instead. The Finnish entrepreneur insists that he is as serious as Sir Jim Ratcliffe or Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, but the Glazers' painstaking selection process has seemingly not gone down well.
Zilliacus emerged as a takeover candidate back in March, spearheading a group of investors who wanted to win United fans over with a unique proposal. Eventually, the 69-year-old wanted supporters to own just under half of the club, and a focus on interactivity would give them a say on key issues.
While Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim appear to be the two front-runners at present, Zilliacus insists that he is just as serious as they are. The Finn is not best pleased with how the takeover has been conducted on the Glazers' end, however, telling Tribal Football: "I think the normal thing would be for the seller to invite each one of the bidders to negotiations and you would discuss and you would come to a conclusion.
"Instead, we are now having these anonymous bidding rounds over and over again to a point where, as far as I know, none of the bidders really know what is going on."
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Now, Zilliacus claims that although his team's bid remains on the table, they are now considering other investment opportunities in globally-recognised clubs. "One of the good things about the publicity around the bid for Manchester United is that I think club owners all over the world now know we are interested in investing in football," he added.
"I've been contacted by a large number of clubs. My focus is on clubs with a big global fan base, which means I've said no to most of those.
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"But there are some really big names among them as well, who we are looking seriously into. While I can't reveal any names, I can say there are clubs among them as well known as Manchester United around the world and on a significantly more attractive price level."
The Glazers are believed to want an astonishing £6billion for Man Utd, having shelled out £790million to buy the club back in 2005. Neither Sheikh Jassim nor Sir Jim's offer is believed to have met their valuation.
And some United fans fear that the Glazers could turn their back on a full-scale takeover altogether as reports suggest a growing feeling behind the scenes that the American billionaire family would prefer to remain in control.
For that reason, proposals involving a minority stake are still believed to be in the running while Zilliacus, Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim await the Glazers' final decision on who gets preferred bidder status.