Manchester United's potential takeover has been complicated by news that Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has been involved with negotiations.
When the Glazer family revealed at the end of last year that they were considering selling the club no one would have expected it to still be going on now.
Actually forget that considering how poorly the Americans have run United in the past few years it is literally no surprise that they're fumbling it this badly.
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No one has argued that there hasn't been money for transfers but you have to be daft not to understand how the owners have continually hamstrung the team they own, with Gary Neville calling them out for the slow selling process.
It has come down to a bid from Qatari royal Sheikh Jassim and Britain's richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe to be named as the preferred bidder.
PSG are of course owned by the Qatar Sports Investments fund, leading to questions about whether that was connected to the bid for United.
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If it was then the two clubs couldn't both compete in the Champions League due to UEFA's rules on people owning multiple clubs in the same competitions.
It's previously been claimed that the two ownerships would have nothing to do with each other but according to the Athletic, Al-Khelaifi has been acting as an advisor for Sheikh Jassim in the negotiations.
Jassim's Nine Two Foundation has claimed that they are independent of QSI and the state of Qatar and the money comes from his independent wealth.
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The report says that the would be owner of United first contacted the man who runs PSG to ask about the Glazers' valuation of the Premier League side.
Later the Americans contacted Al-Khalifi to persuade his fellow Qatari to make an improved offer for the club when he fell short of what they wanted.
It also claims that the man who wants to take ownership of the English side has not been involved with any direct negotiations, leading to worries about who is actually leading the bid.
The presence of Al-Khalifi will raise concern in the Premier League about what could effectively be a third state owned club, following Manchester City and Newcastle United.
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Sheikh Jassim put in a fifth bid for the 13 time Premier League winners earlier in the week and gave a deadline for Friday.
Topics: Qatar, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, Ligue 1, Premier League
Ryan Sidle