Manchester United Takeover Heats Up On 'Soft Deadline' Day

The race to buy Manchester United just got a whole lot more competitive and intriguing with the deadline for takeover bids edging ever closer.

A number of rival bidders are said to have already put their proposals forward in what could be the biggest deal in sporting history.

Interested parties like Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Qatar Investment Authority and Elon Musk who's reportedly 'monitoring' the situation around the club are now joined by a number of wealthy Saudi Arabian investors in purchasing the English top flight club.

While British billionaire Ratcliffe and his Ineos group are the only party to have confirmed that they have formally put themselves into the process, it is understood that consortiums from Qatar and Saudi Arabia are ready to submit their offers at the time of writing.

The Glazers Family who opened themselves up to offers for the Premier League giants they took over in 2005 has categorized the bids into three different groups.

The first group of bids is for the full ownership of the club with the American Family said to be seeking around £6bn to sell the club in its entirety, although grounds may be shifted depending on the offers they receive.

The second group of bids entails buying a stake in the club which permits potential buyers to take minority ownership of and inject cash into the club to help with costs.

Then the third group has to deal with offering investment and commercial deals, the type United have many of already.

This opens up a possibility for rival bidders in the second and third groups to come together and form a consortium capable of raising the money to enter the first group.

The Raine Group, a US investment banking firm, are saddled with the responsibility of facilitating the sale which could see the Glazers' handover to a new owner by April 30. 

Raine, who also oversaw the sale of Chelsea last year, has asked bidders to make themselves known before the 10 pm 'soft deadline' tonight.

The 'soft deadline' is merely for interested bidders to submit their bids in an effort to expedite the takeover process.

It is a similar process used by the Raine Group to ensure the entire takeover of Chelsea by Todd Boehly.

However, because Manchester United are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, they are duty-bound to consider any offers that come in past 10 pm tonight.

This portends that new bidders from across the globe will likely join the heavyweight battle for United.

But at the end of it all, only one potential buyer will be declared the new owner of the club.

Will it be Jim, the Qatari Group, Saudi investors or a dark horse? Definitely, time shall reveal.