Simon Jordan ridicules ‘irony’ of United fans celebrating possible £6bn takeover by Qatari investors

Simon Jordan has ridiculed the ‘irony’ of Manchester United fans celebrating the club’s potential takeover by Qatari investors, having spent a long time calling to get ‘our club back’ from the Glazer family. 

The talkSPORT host slammed United fans and claimed it would be ironic if the club to be taken over by a ‘wealthy middle eastern consortium or state’ with the fanbase keen to take back control of the club from their unpopular American owners. 

Jordan suggested United fans ‘undoubtedly’ partook in ‘vitriol’ against top four rivals Newcastle and Manchester City, who are owned by Emirati and Saudi Arabian investors respectively.  

MailOnline broke the story on Tuesday night that a number of wealthy individuals from the oil-rich state expect to make an offer for the club ahead of the mid-February deadline.

However some sections of the club’s fanbase expressed concerns that the club could be used as part of a ‘sportswashing’ project, should the Qatari investor group buy the Red Devils.  

United fans have been calling to get their ‘club back’ for some time with clamour intensifying this season

Simon Jordan claimed there is an ‘irony’ to United fans’ calls and claimed they purely want an owner who will ‘give you precisely what you want’

‘They’ll not be able to have any conversations about Man City’s ownership or Newcastle’s ownership if they get a wealthy middle eastern consortium in, or state,’ Jordan began.

‘All the vitriol that undoubtedly Man United fans partook in will have to be dropped.

‘There is an irony isn’t there. “We want our club back, we want our club back” – no you don’t, what you want is someone to come through the door and give you precisely what you want, and that’s your version of getting your football club back.’

Man United fans have been clamouring for some time for the Glazer family to sell on the club, with calls intensifying this season, following their controversial and highly-leveraged takeover in 2005.

As such, the announcement that they were looking to sell was met with optimism from supporters.

Notorious United fan and Britain’s richest man Jim Ratcliffe looks set to be the main rival to any bid from Qatar, and was the first to publicise a desire to purchase the Red Devils.

But Jordan was quick to cast aspersions on the intentions of the Qatari group of investors that Sportsmail confirmed are set to bid for the Premier League titans. 

‘I get it more than anybody that sport is business, but when states own football clubs, that isn’t business, that’s about something else that’s not an investment policy, that’s an influence policy. 

Manchester City were bought by the Abu Dhabi United group in 2008  

Amanda Staveley (L)  is a 10 per cent owner of Newcastle, with 80 per cent owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund

‘That’s a direction of travel that’s very different from someone saying “I want to be involved in sport” – like I did – or saying “I want to be involved in sport because I want to make some money out of it”. 

‘Those you can accept a little more readily than “I want to get involved in sport because I wanna leverage a major asset of a particular country and use it as an influencer.’ 

Even if the Glazers should accept a bid from the group of investors, their ownership of the club would still require approval from the Premier League, with disapproval likely to arise over Qatar’s human rights record. 

Sportsmail also confirmed that there are not thought to be any issues with a Qatari bid for United, despite Qatar Sports Investments’ ownership of Ligue 1 side PSG. 

The group are separate from QSI, and the money will be in the shape of an individual fund rather than a sovereign wealth fund.

There is a confidence that Qatar’s ownership of PSG will not cause any issues.