Liverpool’s task of returning to the top of English and European football – and staying there – could be made all the more difficult in the coming months.
Manchester United’s owners, the Glazer family, remain locked in talks with Sir Jim Ratcliffe of INEOS and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani (whom some reports claim has won the race).
It’s far from a simple task to determine just how much in the way of financial flexibility the latter of the two parties will offer the Red Devils going forward, though it’s safe to say the club won’t be struggling in the market.
Forbes (via The Sporting News) put the collective wealth of the royal family at around $275bn (£218bn), which one must reasonably assume the Old Trafford-dwelling outfit will be able to dig into beyond Sheikh Jassim’s personal wealth of $1.2bn (£948.9m) (Forbes).
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Another hurdle for Liverpool?
To put that into context, there’s a staggering disparity of $264.6n (£209bn) separating the royal family’s wealth and Forbes’ valuation of FSG’s sporting empire ($10.4bn (£8.2bn)), according to their ‘The World’s Most Valuable Sports Empires 2023’ list.
Even allowing for some discrepancy, you’d be hard-pressed to find any commentator prepared to suggest that Manchester United would be operating without an added advantage going into the summer window and beyond – even allowing for Financial Fair Play rules.
With Newcastle United showing signs of creeping back into the top four on a regular basis and Manchester City having already detailed the benefits of fresh ownership since their takeover in 2008, a clear precedent has been set.
Erik ten Hag’s men are proof, of course, that recklessly spending money doesn’t guarantee a straight path to the top, though it certainly shouldn’t harm their chances in the long run – particularly if strategy generally improves.
Ultimately, it’s just another hurdle we’ll have to navigate going forward, should Sheikh Jassim officially win the race to own Manchester United.
FSG are out of their league now