Many fans will not be satisfied with minority investment, but the British billionaire's involvement is the first step towards the Red Devils' recovery
When Manchester United fans set off fireworks near Old Trafford to greet news that the Glazer family were putting the club up for sale, they probably did not envisage the drawn out and shadowy process that would follow for the next 11 months.
That process is finally coming to an end as Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS group closes in on a 25 percent stake of the club for a reported £1.4 billion ($1.7 bn) after Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani withdrew his bid.
At first glance, the outcome is far from satisfying. The Glazers remain in control and they are about to earn even more money from the cash cow they started farming 18 years ago, taking roughly double the amount £790m ($959m) they paid for the whole club in 2005 to sell off a quarter of it. And there is no guarantee that the injection of capital will be invested back into the club.
After almost a year of protests and updates of varying reliability, the much-derided Glazers will still own the club and United will still be heavily in debt. Protests against the owners are unlikely to wane after this long-awaited development.
However, there are reasons to be optimistic about INEOS' arrival and the fact they will be in charge of sporting matters. After a decade of blundering since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement, United are finally set to be run by people who know what they are doing…
GettyOpaque process from the start
The overriding reaction among supporters to the weekend's news has been confusion. Former United captain Gary Neville, who has been a vociferous critic of the Glazer's ownership in the last few years, stated that the minority investment "leaves more questions than answers" and came up with 16 questions of his own on how INEOS' involvement would affect the club.
Considering the process has been opaque and unclear from the start, it is perhaps fitting that it has had an unsatisfying ending. While many fans were desperate for what Neville called "a Glazer family full exit" and were most in favour of the full sale which Sheikh Jassim was promising, that was only one of the potential outcomes mentioned when the club released a statement last November announcing the club was "exploring strategic alternatives".
"The board will consider all strategic alternatives, including new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions involving the company," said the statement, which included the caveat: "There can be no assurance that the review being undertaken will result in any transaction involving the company."
Until Saturday's news that Sheikh Jassim was about to withdraw from the negotiating process, there was a sense that this was a never-ending saga. Sources close to the Qatari billionaire had briefed in August that they had not heard anything back from the club in relation to the bid and said they were concerned that the Glazers did not want to sell the club at all. A report in September echoing that sentiment led the club's share price to plummet to its lowest ever point.
With United staying silent on the issue and neither INEOS nor Sheikh Jassim going on record to discuss their plans due to a confidentiality agreement, all fans had to rely on were unsourced reports. And whether it was reported that the Qatari bid or INEOS' offer was in pole position was often determined by how close journalists were to either bid.
AdvertisementGetty More protests on the horizon
Meanwhile, the growing uncertainty did not help the team or the club's image. The club backtracked on its agreed contract with David de Gea and made a real mess of the Mason Greenwood situation, spending six months on an internal investigation before coming to the conclusion that the striker should be reintegrated into the squad, only to row back on that decision following an outpouring of anger.
Every match at Old Trafford has been played out with the backdrop of fan protests, and by late September, United had already slumped to three home defeats, more than in the entirety of last season.
If INEOS are confirmed as minority investors by the board, there is a feeling that discontent could boil over. The 1958 Group, which has organised most of the protests over the last year, has called for a full sale only, and authorities fear they will stage a demonstration ahead of the next game at Old Trafford against Copenhagen, with police increasing their presence for the match.
Qib.com.qaSheikh Jassim shrouded in mystery
Sheikh Jassim was the only hope of a full sale as his Nine Two Foundation was the only bid that wanted to buy the club outright. The Qatari banker's offer sounded highly attractive to fans as he promised to clear the club's debt and invest $1.7 billion into the club's infrastructure. If his bid had been successful, the hated Glazers who had presided over a decade of decline would finally be gone.But the Qatari's interest in United was also shrouded in mystery. So little was known about the son of the former prime minister of the gulf state and he did nothing to change that.
There was only one picture of him in circulation and not even a long investigative article by could shine much detail on him or his character. People in Qatari business circles said that he was an unknown figure, which is uncommon for someone offering to buy a football club for billions of dollars.
And when United invited the Nine Two Foundation to Old Trafford to meet directors and discuss their bid, Sheikh Jassim was absent. How could someone at the heart of a bid for the biggest club in the world miss such an important meeting?
His shadowy presence was in complete contrast to Ratcliffe, who posed for pictures outside Old Trafford and shook hands with Erik ten Hag. Sheikh Jassim's anonymity did not help to knock down suggestions he was a front for a bid from the state of Qatar, nor did reports that PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chairman of Qatar Sports Investment, was heavily involved in the pursuit.
There is growing hostility among the Premier League towards state-owned clubs following Abu Dhabi's investment in Manchester City and Saudi Arabia's ownership of Newcastle United, and the UK government's proposed football regulator is also set to take a hard line on state-backed clubs.
GettyGenuine United fan
Ratcliffe's hands-on role in the INEOS bid has helped him win over the Glazers. He and his associates flew to the States to meet the family long before the strategic review was announced, stating that the Americans were "charming" and "very nice, despite the press they get".
His personality and business acumen, which has helped him become one of Britain's richest men, led him to outmanoeuvre Sheikh Jassim and has ultimately led to him paying a high price for his 25% stake.
Many fans who were initially keen on Ratcliffe due to his lifelong support of United and Manchester roots have since turned on him, calling him a traitor for lowering his stake at the behest of the Glazers. He will be unpopular with many supporters before he is even confirmed as a minority investor.
However, his involvement should be welcomed. Ratcliffe is a genuine United fan who was at the 1999 Champions League final at Camp Nou. "This is my most extraordinary football memory, we should never have won before these three crazy minutes. Three minutes you never forget in your lifetime," is how he recalled the dramatic win over Bayern Munich. Although Sheikh Jassim named his Nine Two Foundation after United's 'Class of 92' generation, he had no relatable stories of following the team.