Man Utd takeover: Finnish businessman urges fans to join bid
By Tom Gott
Finnish businessman Thomas Zilliacus has claimed to have submitted a bid for Manchester United which would hand Red Devils fans a controlling stake in the club.
Qatari Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and INEOS chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe have both publicly confirmed their desires to buy United and have been granted some more time to formalise increased offers after Wednesday's soft deadline passed.
Zilliacus has voiced his intention to rival Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe with a unique bid which would be part-financed by supporters.
A statement read: ”Any sport club ultimately should belong to its fans. The current development, where billionaire sheiks and oligarks [sic] take over clubs and control them as their personal playgrounds is not a healthy trend.
“The current market value of the club is just under $3.9bn. That means that if every one of the fans of the club would join in buying the club, the total sum per fan would amount to less than $6. My bid is built on equality with the fans.
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"My group will finance half of the sum needed to take over the club, and will ask the fans, through a new company that is being set up for this specific purpose, to participate for the other half. If every fan joins it means less than $3 per fan.
"Each fan who joins will have access to an app which the fan, from anywhere in the world, can use to participate and cast his vote when deciding on footballing matters relating to the club. No decisions will be taken that are not supported by a majority of the fan base.
“Manchester United should not only be the best football club in the world, it should also be the leading club in the world in working to stop abuse, racism and hate speech in social media and on sports grounds.
“Should we be successful in our bid we will ensure that Manchester United, the best football club in the world, will operate on a foundation of respect, equality, dignity, diversity, racial harmony and democracy, and with its global fan base included and involved in all decisions."
United's current owners, the Glazer family, are understood to be holding out for £6bn ($7.39bn) to sell the club.
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