Finnish businessman makes unique proposal for Manchester United takeover: REPORTS

Manchester United's takeover plans have already hogged the limelight as a number of bidders including sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani are expected to be the leading candidates. The Red Devils are seemingly edging towards having a new owner in near future.  According to reports, Finnish businessman Thomas Zilliacus has expressed his interest in taking over the club and has forwarded a unique proposal. Zilliacus is the chairman and founder of novaM Group and he has sought the help of supporters as he is planning to offer a bid for the takeover.

The entrepreneur in a statement said: 

Any sport club ultimately should belong to its fans. The current development, where billionaire sheiks and oligarks take over clubs and control them as their personal playgrounds is not a healthy trend. The current market value of the club is just under 3.9 billion USD. That means that if every one of the fans of the club would join in buying the club, the total sum per fan would amount to less than 6 dollars. My bid is built on equality with the fans. My group will finance half of the sum needed to take over the club, and will ask the fans, through a new company that is being set up for this specific purpose, to participate for the other half. If every fan joins it means less than 3 dollars per fan. Each fan who joins will have access to an app which the fan, from anywhere in the world, can use to participate and cast his vote when deciding on footballing matters relating to the club. No decisions will be taken that are not supported by a majority of the fan base.

“Manchester United should not only be the best football club in the world, it should also be the leading club in the world in working to stop abuse, racism and hate speech in social media and on sports grounds. Should we be successful in our bid we will ensure that Manchester United, the best football club in the world, will operate on a foundation of respect, equality, dignity, diversity, racial harmony and democracy, and with its global fan base included and involved in all decisions.", Zilliacus further added