Has Sheikh Jassim’s father dropped huge Man Utd takeover hint?

It is no news that Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani wants to buy Manchester United, but completing the takeover of the club has proven tricky, and it does not appear anything will happen on that front anytime soon.

The Qatar Islamic Bank chairman is in battle with British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe for the Old Trafford club, but the current owners are demanding £6 billion before selling, and neither bidder has met their asking price.

Sheikh Jassim remains the favourite to buy Man United, and a social media post from his father Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani could be a hint that the takeover is getting closer and could be wrapped up very soon.

The former Qatari prime minister uploaded a picture of Sheikh Jassim, his third son, on his personal Instagram account yesterday, and a look at all the other 622 posts on the page shows that it is the first time the Qatari billionaire has made it to his father’s social media account.

Sheikh Jassim does not want to be in the public eye, sending a delegation to Old Trafford for talks with The Raine Group, and the handful of photographs of him available online is evidence of this.

The fact that he has agreed to be uploaded speaks volumes, and it could be a PR attempt and a message to eager Man United fans, who cannot wait to hear that the Glazers have decided to sell the club to him.

Hamad captioned the Instagram picture: “With the boys Jassim, Saheem bin Khalid and Fahad.”

Sheikh Jassim is on the maroon shirt on the right of the snap, and his rare social media appearance at this point cannot be a mere coincidence.

Several reports continue to suggest that he is expected to be named the preferred bidder in the race to buy Man United, but he will also need to pass the Owners’ and Directors’ Test to get the green light from the Premier League.

Other English top-flight clubs believe Sheikh Jassim is just the frontman the State of Qatar are using in their attempt to buy the club.

He has continued to deny that, but if the Glazers opt to sell to him, the Premier League will come under a lot of pressure and will need to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Qatar are not the one interested in owning Man United.