By Frank McAvennie

20th Oct, 2023 | 7:00am

'What I heard...' Pundit drops intriguing Man United takeover reveal

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani backed out of the process to buy Man United because the Glazer family do not want to sell.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former West Ham striker Frank McAvennie suggested that United fans should feel good about the prospect of Sir Jim Ratcliffe taking over the footballing operations at the club.

Sheikh Jassim had offered to buy the club from the Glazers for around £5billion but pulled out of the process as his offer did not meet the owners’ valuation of the club.

British businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe looks set to purchase a 25 per cent minority stake in the club for around £1.4bn and is bidding to take over the footballing operations.

Whilst the deal has not gone through yet, with the Glazers reportedly putting the brakes on the deal whilst further discussions take place, Ratcliffe could soon be in charge of the footballing side of the club.

McAvennie insisted that Ratcliffe’s potential role should be seen as a positive.

“This all just shows to me that the Glazers do not want to sell, but they won’t be involved in the football side any more,” he told Football Insider.

“What I heard was that Ratcliffe is going to take over the footballing side of it and leave the merchandising and stuff -which is all the Glazers are interested in anyway. It’s 100 per cent true.

“They need to sort some of the stands out, it is not fitting of an absolutely huge club like Man United. If the Glazers are not involved in the footballing side then it can only be a good thing.“

In other news, major update on Man United potentially signing Palace star in January.