There has been a renewed sense of optimism in the Qatari camp in the past 72 hours about acquiring Manchester United, fuelled, insiders claim, by dialogue with the Glazers and their representatives towards the end of last week.
Since a third and final bid deadline was set by Raine at the
end of April, the Qataris have tabled two more offers in an effort to regain
the initiative.
The fifth bid, submitted to the Glazers and Raine in
the past week, came with a deadline of Friday, and a declaration from the group
led by Sheikh Jassim that they would withdraw from the process if they did not
receive a response.
However, that deadline passed and the Qataris remain in the
chase, with their hopes further fuelled by the fact that a month ago the Glazers
contacted Nasser al-Khelaifi, the president of the Qatari-owned club Paris
Saint-Germain, requesting that he ask Sheikh Jassim to increase his offer.
However, an increased bid by the Qataris is now believed to
be nearer to the overall Ratcliffe valuation, though is still some way short of
£6 billion. The Qataris believe a final decision simply comes down to whether
the Glazers want to maintain some involvement with a club they have had full
control of since 2005, or whether they choose to accept Sheikh Jassim’s offer
for 100 per cent of the club.
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