Ratcliffe offer 'more in line with what the Glazers think it is worth'

BBC Sport senior football reporter Simon Stone has been discussing the latest situation in the sale of Manchester United on BBC Radio Manchester: "By the end of this week we should have absolute clarity over what is happening with the Man Utd ownership situation and I think that will leave Sheikh Jassim on the outside.

"Whether he has jumped before he was pushed because he's got wind of what is likely to happen this week I don't know, but there is a board meeting on Thursday and it is quite possible that at that board meeting it will be decided that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is now a large minority stakeholder in Manchester United and that would clearly end Sheikh Jassim's hopes of buying the football club.

"We understand the Glazer's believed their valuation to be around $6bn and the feeling is that that is too much for Sheikh Jassim, that he feels that is excessive and he just doesn't think it is worth the extra money. That is clearly a problem because in addition he was willing to offer around $1.7bn in order to fund the stadium redevelopment, in order to fund the training ground, in order to beef up Erik ten Hag's squad and to do work and develop around the Old Trafford site.

"The fact that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been able to offer around the equivalent of the $6bn with around a £1.3bn offer for 25% of the club is more in line with what the Glazer's think it is worth. The issue is where did this 25% come from? What will the shareholding look like once it has been executed?

"Many fans will think the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe even in a minority capacity is good news for the club because he clearly eventually wants control of the club and that will take control away from the Glazer family. That's what he wants but we're clearly not quite there yet."

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