David Beckham has confidently claimed he knows who would be the best to take ownership of Manchester United.
Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe of INEOS are aiming to get a takeover over the line.
The process has been ongoing since the Glazer family announced their plans to welcome investment in November. It is believed they were open to a full sale at the time, however, reports continue to suggest that Avram and Joel Glazer aren’t ready to sell yet.
Beckham, who held an ambassadorial role around the Qatar World Cup in 2022, returned to the gulf state over the weekend to attend the latest Formula 1 race.
The 48-year-old is bound to commit to more media gigs than usual over the coming weeks to promote his new Netflix documentary, so it came as no surprise that he spoke to Sky Sports News at the F1. During the short interview, Beckham came across sympathetic towards Ten Hag because of the situations he has to deal at United due to the Glazers. He was also quizzed on his bidder preference.
“I think he’s a good coach,” Beckham said. “It’s a difficult time at the moment but there’s a lot of noise around the club at the moment so it can’t be easy for him.
“We all want that noise to go away and we all want a decision to be made. For the club, for the fans, for the players and for the manager as well, because we are one of the if not the biggest club in the world and we want stability, and I think that’s the most important thing.
“We all have our favourites of who we feel needs to run the club and look after the club and take the club back to where it belongs, but in our eyes, in the fans’ eyes, we’re number one and we want to be back at the top, and I believe I know the right people to do that.”
When asked if he was referring to Sheikh Jassim, he smiled and said “we’ll see”.
Beckham has already done deals with Qatar in the past, so he’s bound to be hopeful their bid is a success, even though it raises serious questions about sportswashing.
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