According to reports, ‘most leading minority investors’ in Man Utd ‘favour’ Sheikh Jassim’s takeover proposal over the offer from INEOS’ Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

The Premier League giants have been up for sale since last November. The Glazer family announced at the time that they would “evaluate all options”.

Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe later emerged as the most likely candidates to take control of Man Utd from the Glazer family.

Three rounds of bidding have taken place over the past couple of months, with the final offers submitted at the end of April.

In recent weeks, Ratcliffe has emerged as the favourite to become the club’s new majority stakeholder. He is understood to be willing to keep the Glazer family on board with a minority share of around 20%.

But Sheikh Jassim is not giving up. Earlier this week, he submitted one ‘final improved offer’ in an attempt to buy Man Utd, with him only interested in gaining 100% control of the football club.

A fresh report from Football Insider provides a ‘big takeover update’ as the ‘preferred bidder’ has been ‘revealed’.

Sheikh Jassim’s offer is said to be ‘favoured by most leading minority investors in the club’. The report adds.

‘The new Qatari bid is believed to be for around £5.5billion, while takeover rival Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s valuation is higher but his proposal is to take a smaller stake.

‘That would likely leave the Glazers with a minority stake and almost certainly leave the shares currently in public ownership untouched.

‘The Qatari proposal would instead offer a premium price to prise away publicly-traded shares from the likes of Lindsell Train and Ariel Investments, whose stakes are worth hundreds of millions.

‘Two well-placed sources – one with a direct investment interest and one from within the football finance industry – insist that the Qatari proposal is favoured among influential minority shareholders.

‘The premium that Sheikh Jassim’s group would offer to buy out minority shareholders would, it is claimed, represent an opportunity too good for many to turn down.’

It is pointed out that the thoughts of the ‘minority shareholders will have no material influence on the Glazers’ decision’ but ‘it could be an important weapon’ for Sheikh Jassim as he ‘ramps up his PR campaign’.

A separate report from The Telegraph claims the ‘takeover saga could remain unresolved until the end of the Premier League season’.

The Glazer family are ‘still undecided on various contenders’  and ‘there has been no clear indication from the American family’s inner circle’ that they favour Ratcliffe over Sheikh Jassim.

The Qatari businessman is still a ‘leading contender’, but his relations with those involved in the process have ‘become tense in recent weeks’.

The report adds: ‘Key figures say they are now hopeful but not certain that the process can be resolved by the end of the month.’