Is this the reason behind Alalshikh’s MU claim? Billionaire key to stadium plans

TURKI ALALSHIKH’S speculation about a potential sale of Manchester United is possibly linked to plans to rebuild Old Trafford.

United sources were perplexed by Saudi Arabian government official Alalshikh suggesting that the club was in discussions about a potential sale.

Alalshikh was linked with a possible takeover of French club Marseille two years ago and he has dealt with billionaire Rodolphe Saade, who also considered buying Marseille.

Saade is the chairman and chief executive of the CMA CGM Group, which recently acquired Freightliner.

Freightliner own land around Old Trafford that is central to United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s plans to build a brand-new 100,000-all seater stadium next to the club’s 115-year-old stadium.

Saade has met several times with Alalshikh, who was the owner of Spanish club Almeria until earlier this year and is best known in his country for bringing boxing bouts to Saudi.

Old Trafford taskforce leader Lord Seb Coe flew to New York as recently as July to sound out potential investors who could help foot the bill for the new stadium.

United have estimated that the cost for a new Old Trafford could be as high as £2billion.

Alalshikh resorted to a major climbdown on X after he sparked online hysteria about a possible takeover of United.

“My post about Manchester United's potential sale meant one thing: the club is in an advanced negotiation phase with a new investor,” Alalshikh tweeted.

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“Just to clarify, I am not the investor, nor are they from my nation. I'm posting this as a fan who wishes the deal to happen, though it might not necessarily happen.”

The Saudi government has been accused of sportswashing through its boxing ventures and ownership of Newcastle United.

Saudi officials have baselessly suggested a takeover was in the offing in the past. United sources suspected at the time it was an attempt to drive up the share price.

Ratcliffe discussed his relationship with United’s majority owners, the Glazer family, in an interview with The Business podcast that was broadcast on Wednesday.

“We’re local, and they’re the other side of the pond,” Ratcliffe said. “That’s a long way away to try and manage a football club as big and as complex as Manchester United. We’re here with feet on the ground.

“It’s just a good working relationship. They come to the board meetings. We sit down and we talk about things.

“There's probably something written in the formal agreement (about who controls football operations) but I did say when we finally put those legal agreements to bed, ‘I hope that's the last time we ever see them’.

“They were just put in the bottom drawer and I've never looked at them since to be honest.”