Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani has submitted a new bid to buy Manchester United which is believed to be worth around £5 billion (US$6.12 billion), Sky Sports News reported on Saturday (Mar 25).Sheikh Jassim, a son of Qatar’s former prime minister, launched the bid in February.
A spokesperson representing Sheikh Jassim said at the time that the bid was completely debt free, via Sheikh Jassim's Nine Two Foundation.Manchester United did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus also placed a bid on Thursday and told Reuters that he was willing to pay a premium for the English Premier League club.British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, a life-long United fan and founder of chemicals producer INEOS, put in a bid for the club in February.United's current owners, the Glazer family, began looking at options for the record 20-times English champions in November, including new investment or a potential sale, 17 years after they bought the Old Trafford club.Any sale of the club would likely exceed the biggest sports deal so far, the US$5.2 billion including debt and investments paid for Chelsea, sources told Reuters previously.United's Premier League rivals Liverpool have also said they would explore the option of bringing in investors, while Iranian-American billionaire Jahm Najafi was set to launch a US$3.75 billion bid for Tottenham Hotspur, sources told Reuters in February.United are the fourth richest football club in the world, according to analysis by Deloitte.