Journalist Ben Jacobs has revealed that Sheikh Jassim Bin Mohammed Al Thani has shown a lot of confidence in his bid to buy Manchester United through the PR group which he has used throughout the process.
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Since the much-criticised Glazer family announced that they are open to a sale, bids have come in from Sir Jim Ratcliffe from Manchester and Al Thani from Qatar, with it currently unclear who will win the battle.
Both have outlined their intentions to bring the club back to their former glory, but Al Thani has also issued a clear outline for his plans should he complete a takeover, which includes significant investment into the playing squad and the academy.
Speaking on UnitedPeoplesTV, Jacobs revealed that Al Thani’s consortium issued their statements through a PR agency previously used by the Premier League, and that this indicates huge confidence all around that they will succeed in their bid.
“The most underrated point and clue in all of this is actually from a PR perspective, believe it or not, because the PR firm that are releasing statements on behalf of Sheikh Jassim, have surrendered a contract with the Premier League in order to work on the Qatari bid,” he stated.”They’re well compensated, but if this only lasts for a month, and they’ve given up an account with the league, which is ongoing, and that’s not a smart business decision, unless they feel that obviously they’re going to be well rewarded, but it’s a long term thing.”So that tells you that Sheikh Jassim has got confidence in hiring that firm, and that this is going to progress over the coming months and even if they come into the club, maybe that contract can even go beyond it.”So I’m not saying read too much into that, but from my experience when a group starts using PR to release statements, rather than doing it in-house, which is what Jim Ratcliffe is doing with their public statements. It tells you that they believe there’s a relationship to be had.”What should be the new owner’s first priority?The Glazers have been criticised for years for their poor handling of transfers, almost ten years since the club last won a league title, and their lack of investment into the first-team squad is a significant factor for their dislike from United fans.Whoever completes a takeover should prioritise supporting Erik ten Hag in the transfer window, and given his desire to sign a star striker in the summer, the new ownership can endear themselves to the fans by backing the manager with his transfer targets.If Al-Thani’s consortium does complete a takeover and they stick by their plans of investment into the club, then United fans will have very exciting times ahead after years of discontent under the Glazers.
