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13th June 2023
10:34am BST
Sheikh Jassim has reportedly won the race to buy Manchester United, with an announcement expected to be imminent.
Reports in his homeland of Qatar claim that Jassim submitted a huge fifth and final bid to complete a full takeover from the Glazer family.
It's estimated that the offer is said to be in the region of £5.2bn and that an extra £800m will be made available for added investment.
Al Watan - who are owned by Jassim's father, Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani - leaked the news on Monday, saying: :All the news received indicates the success of Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Jassim’s acquisition of Manchester United, and the announcement of the deal will be very soon."
If reports are accurate and a deal is completed, it would be the largest sale for a sports club in the world. The closest deal, Todd Boehly's purchase of Chelsea, in comparison was worth £4.25bn.
United boss Erik ten Hag is likely to be given significant financial backing if a full sale is completed but when asked at the end of the season, the Dutchman admitted he had no idea as to what his budget would be.
"No, I don’t have an influence on that, I don’t have and also I don’t know," he said.
"The club has to compete for the highest in the world – the Champions League and Premier League. But in football, you need funds to construct squads because, at the end of the day, the level of your players decides if you are successful or not.
"Everyone knows you need funds to construct a squad and high-level players cost a lot of money. That’s the situation nowadays in top football.
"I think it’s clear what I want, but it’s not up to me. It’s about others in this club. The family are the owners, they make the decisions, and it’s not up to me. I do everything I can and I influence the processes that I’m in charge of."
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