Manchester United takeover news: Qatar '£4bn bid', Sir Jim Ratcliffe interest, deadline explained

Manchester United are up for sale and today (Friday) is the deadline for any investors interested in purchasing the club from the Glazers to submit their bids. The takeover saga took another twist earlier in the week with reports that US billionaire Elon Musk has joined the race to buy the club - while speculation around a Qatari buyout and Sir Jim Ratfcliffe's interest continues to rage.

The Twitter and Tesla owner Musk has reportedly been weighing up an offer during a big week for United with the 'soft' deadline for takeover bids today. It was claimed Raine Group - who are organising a potential sale on behalf of the Glazers - could potentially receive offers to purchase the club from as many as 'five serious bidders' by the end of the week, with Ratcliffe also among the interested parties.

That said, both Avram and Joel Glazer are also exploring the possibility of buying out their four siblings on the club board as they remain keen in the running of the club. With the deadline today, here is a look at some of the latest developments on the situation and who the expected bidders are at this stage of the process.

READ MORE: Man United takeover deadline day LIVE updates

Soft deadline today

A deadline of 10pm UK time on Friday has been set by the Raine Group who are organsing the potential sale on behalf of the current owners. It is being dubbed a 'soft' deadline because should a sizeable proposal be recieved after today, then there remains the possibility that Raine could opt to instead move forward with that should it prove to be more appealing.

An anticipated bid from Qatari investors saw United's value on the stock market ahead of the deadline. That led to the club's market value increasing by a total of $400m