Manchester United takeover: Who is Turki Al-Sheikh and is the club really for sale?
An influential Saudi Arabian has said that Manchester United is on the verge of being sold - but the truth behind the claim is hard to fathom.
Saudi government official Turki Al-Sheikh - also known as Turki Alalshikh - has been a right-hand man of Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince and president, who is effectively the leader of the country.
Bin Salman has spent enormous sums on sport, succeeding in bringing the football World Cup to Saudi in 2034 and the Asian Games five years before that, as well as overseeing the burgeoning Saudi league. Al-Sheikh is President of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, so has great sway.
It has been alleged that bin Salman was involved with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund takeover of Newcastle United in 2021, but because the Premier League had misgivings over Saudi, this was vociferously denied. The League said it was satisfied that the PIF was separate from the Saudi state, even though it does technically allow nation states to buy football clubs.
Al-Sheikh has experience not just in government but in staging and promoting boxing matches, and his contacts within sport mean he is listened to. If he is talking about Manchester United, there may well be Saudi interest in the club. It’s possible, but unlikely, that Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos are buying out the Glazers.
What has Turki Al-Sheikh said?
Posting on X Al-Sheikh wrote: "The best news I heard today is that Manchester United is now in an advanced stage of completing a deal to sell to a new investor ... I hope he’s better than the previous owners".
What is Turki Al-Sheikh’s experience?
Al-Sheikh owned Egyptian club Pyramids from 2018 to 2019 and bought the Spanish club Almería in 2019.
But it’s in the boxing word that he is best known to the western world, having organised the Riyadh season for several years, including fights between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, and Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford.
What is Turki Al-Sheikh’s net worth?
Would the Glazers sell Manchester United?
The Glazers have been hate figures to Manchester United fans ever since they took over the club in 2005. Malcolm Glazer started buying shares in 2003, and despite a grassroots protest - Shareholders United - that saw fans try to team up to buy enough of the club to keep it out of his hands, he bought enough shares to delist it from the Stock Exchange in 2005. It was a leveraged buyout, meaning that the Glazers borrowed money to buy shares. Since their takeover it’s estimated that they have taken £1.2bn out of the club, in debt repayments and shareholder dividends.
Malcolm died in 2014 and his sons Avram and Joel now run the club. Their siblings run sports teams in America also owned by the family.
While success on the pitch continued under Sir Alex Ferguson, no league titles have been won since his retirement in 2013. The results of the Glazers’ financial strategy have been clear - while some big-money signings have been made, notably Matheus Cunha, Benjamin Sesko and Bryan Mbeumo this summer, the club’s net spend has fallen way behind Premier League rivals and Old Trafford itself is in need of a makeover.
The Glazers rejected a takeover by Qatari investors at the same time they sold just over a quarter of the club to Sir Jim Radcliffe and Ineos for £1.25bn, which gave Radcliffe control of football operations. Fan discontent has continued, and it would not be a surprise if at some stage the Glazers decide they have had enough - particularly as the proposed plans for a new stadium would need a huge outlay from the club. They may decide to jump before the bills come in, even though the stadium would represent a revenue opportunity when it is finished.