Manchester United fans must ignore temptation with fresh Sheikh Jassim takeover reports

Manchester United fans have unsurprisingly encountered a number of charlatans on social media over the last few months.

With supporters desperate for an update on the takeover process, opportunistic accounts have been given the attention they crave, leading some to struggle to decipher fact from fiction in the search of reading what they want to hear.

The spread of fake news can happen within just a few clicks and earlier in the week, that's what happened when it was suggested Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani of Qatar had been successful in acquiring the club from the Glazers.

The club’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange began to rise on the back of the reports and the price reached $24 per share by Tuesday morning, with traders 'betting' on the reports of Sheikh Jassim purchasing United being true.

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Financial experts also suggested the rise was an indication of Sheikh Jassim's bid being successful. That's because the share price is a gauge of the perceived likelihood of a Qatar victory, as the bid is for 100 per cent of shares at Old Trafford.

Any Qatar takeover will pay out on New York-listed shares at a takeover price, which means the traders were 'betting' on the Glazers selling the club to Sheikh Jassim, who has promised to clear all of United's debt in his proposal.

Sheikh Jassim's camp was contacted for clarity in the immediate hours following the stock market surge and they denied the reports of the deal being complete, instead revealing they had received no communication of the Glazers' decision.

When traced back, the story had actually first emerged from Qatari-based media outlet Al Watan, a company which the aforementioned charlatans on Twitter