It’s already been a story that’s dragged on for many months, and the Man United takeover saga still hasn’t shown any signs of reaching a conclusion, however, when it eventually does, north London outfit, Tottenham Hotspur, could be the unexpected beneficiaries.
Although a deal for the club one way or the other was expected to have been concluded by now, it appears that there are still a number of factors to be agreed before pen can be put to paper and hands shaken on any sale.
Intriguingly, were Sir Jim Ratcliffe ultimately emerge successful, then that will pave the way for Spurs to be taken over by Sheikh Jassim.
According to ESPN journalist Mark Ogden, speaking on The United Stand and cited by Football 365, the Qatari delegation want to ensure they are owners of a Premier League club by hook or by crook.
White Hart Lane
“PSG was a great move [for the club’s Qatari owners] because it’s Paris, it’s a great city, but I think they’ve found over the years that Ligue 1 is just not big enough. They want the Premier League footprint,” Ogden said.
“Somebody told me recently, they said that if the Qataris don’t buy Manchester United, they’ll be back and they might end up buying Tottenham.
“He said, look, if you’ve got Manchester City owned by Abu Dhabi, you’ve got Newcastle owned by Saudi Arabia, if Qataris maybe buy Tottenham, then you’ve got three clubs who can pull away.
“Every year, it would be United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal fighting for fourth spot, which is quite a terrifying prospect for [them].”
Any sale of the north Londoners would need to have the express permission of the secretive Joe Lewis of course, and that’s by no mean a foregone conclusion.
The thought of having new owners at White Hart Lane is likely to appeal to those supporters who regularly attend games and have become disillusioned by what they see week in and week out.
Were it to be on the table in the very near future, such a development may even go some way to keeping Harry Kane at the club beyond this season.
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