The deadline for bids to arrive for Manchester United is 10pm today, and the Premier League club is expected to garner plenty of interest.
Lifelong fan and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, who owns chemicals group Ineos, has already put his name in the hat, with JPMorgan said to be advising the company.
Other interested parties include US-based consortiums and Qatar Sports Investment (QSI), a subsidiary of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investments Authority.
Raine Group, the investment bank which also conducted the sale of Chelsea, will be running the process for United and will draw up a shortlist once proof of funds have been submitted.
The Glazer Family, which have overseen Manchester United for almost 20 years, are said to be seeking up to £8bn from any would-be buyer.
Jim Ratcliffe, who was one of the first to put his name in the hat, would be purchasing the club through INEOS.
Ratcliffe already owns French football club Nice, as well as INEOS owning the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team and a third of Formula 1 side Mercedes.
UEFA rules dictate that two clubs owned by the same organisation or group cannot compete in the Champions League.
Owning both Nice and Manchester United, should Ratcliffe be successful, shouldn’t be too much of a concern given the two are unlikely to compete in Europe’s top-tier competition (Editor's note: the author is a Liverpool fan).
This UEFA rule could however throw a spanner in the works for QSI’s potential bid.
The Qatari fund already owns French club PSG, who have regularly competed in the Champions League and have even faced Manchester United in recent seasons.
A non-profit organisation wrote to UEFA, urging it to step in on any Qatari takeover and protect the integrity of the Champions League.
But Red Bull Leipzig in Germany and Red Bull Salzburg in Austria are both owned by, you guessed, Red Bull, and both were allowed to compete in the group stages of this year’s competition, although Salzburg were dumped out at the group stages.
Appetite for takeovers of Premier League clubs has been growing, given the huge revenues associated with broadcast rights.
Last year, Premier League TV revenue exceed £10bn for the first time.
Some new prospective owners may also be warm to the revamped European Super League to boost revenue.
Earlier this month, a new proposal was put forward whereby 60 and 80 teams across Europe would take part in a replacement tournament to the UEFA Champions League.
The ‘big 6’ English clubs were all involved in the previous model, pitched nearly two years ago, although quickly backtracked following intense backlash.
None have acquainted themselves with the new project so far, although a Qatari investor or Jim Ratcliffe could be much more open to the idea.