Manchester United for Sale? Not So Fast, Says Everyone… Except This One Guy

Just when you thought the rollercoaster ride at Manchester United couldn’t get any loopier, a Saudi sports bigwig throws another wrench into the works. Turki Alalshikh, a man with a cool 7.2 million followers on X and the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, decided to light up the internet with a bombshell claim: United are supposedly in “advanced” talks to be sold to a new investor.

His post, dropped in the dead of night, sent ripples through the football world. “The best news I heard today is that Manchester United is now in an advanced stage of completing a deal to sell to a new investor,” he declared, before adding a cheeky jab at the current regime: “I hope he’s better than the previous owners.”

Ouch. You could almost hear the collective gasp from the Stretford End. For a fanbase that’s been dreaming of a Glazer-free existence for years, this was like dangling a winning lottery ticket just out of reach.

But here’s where it gets weird. Both Manchester United and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos camp were apparently caught completely off guard, basically saying, “Uh, what’s this guy talking about?” They claim to know nothing about any such deal. So, who do you believe? A high-profile Saudi official with deep connections in the sports world, or the very people who would be signing the paperwork? It’s a classic case of “he said, they said,” and right now, it’s about as clear as mud.

The Plot Thickens: A Clarification That Clarifies Nothing

Sensing the chaos he’d unleashed, Alalshikh returned to X to “clarify” his statement. He confirmed he wasn’t the mystery buyer, nor was the investor from Saudi Arabia. He was just a fan, like the rest of us, hoping for a change. “I’m posting this as a fan who wishes the deal to happen,” he wrote. Right. A man who orchestrates billion-dollar sporting events is just another supporter tweeting his hopes and dreams. It feels less like a clarification and more like stirring the pot with a giant, gold-plated spoon.

This whole episode shines a glaring spotlight on the bizarre power dynamic at Old Trafford. You have the Glazers, the silent majority owners who have mastered the art of being invisible while collecting dividends.

Then there’s Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the very vocal minority owner who’s in charge of football operations and has been on a cost-cutting spree, telling everyone the club would have gone “bust by Christmas” without him. It’s an awkward alliance, a marriage of convenience where both parties have agreed not to bad-mouth each other in public. But you just know there’s some serious side-eye happening behind closed doors.