Around £3.75billion would be enough to prise Manchester United from the Glazer family, according to well-placed sources.
It remains to be seen whether such a figure would be palatable to Britain’s richest man and United supporter Jim Ratcliffe, who failed with a recent bid for Chelsea.
It may well, however, be within the range of a sovereign wealth fund such as Dubai, which is yet to follow Abu Dhabi (Manchester City) and Saudi Arabia (Newcastle United) in adding a top-flight club to its portfolio. The Emirate is rumoured be a contender.
PGMOL still looking for Chief Operating Officer
With Howard Webb confirmed as chief refereeing officer, the officials’ body PGMOL are still looking to add a chief operating officer and performance director.
Announcements are expected in due course. Given this weekend’s VAR mayhem, the new appointees cannot arrive quickly enough.
Leeds progressing with their bid to develop Elland Road
Leeds United are progressing with their quest to redevelop Elland Road which would see capacity raised to 55,000 and hand a huge boost to the club’s revenues.
Managing director Angus Kinnear is leading the drive, and expect Peter Lowy — former chief executive of the Westfield Group — to play an influential role when the project gets underway.
The club have 22,000 fans on a waiting list for season tickets and the expansion would include a significant increase in corporate and retail facilities.
No dates have been set but expansion is high on the agenda