Finnish billionaire Thomas Zilliacus has revealed that he still wants to buy Manchester United but will not be entering into a third round of bidding for the club.
The 69-year-old recently expressed an interest in purchasing the Red Devils and later insisted that he could raise the funds required to buy the club from the Glazer family.
Zilliacus has said that he has placed an offer on the table for Man United, which still stands, but the Glazers are allegedly taking the takeover process into a third round of bidding, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani being invited to raise their offers.
The founder of the Mobile FutureWorks Group has called a potential third round of bidding "highly unprofessional" but claimed that he still wants to purchase the 20-time English champions.
© Reuters
"My earlier offer still stands and I am willing to pay a premium above what I offered," Zilliacus told the BBC's How To Buy A Football Club podcast.
"I'm not going to be participating in a third round because I find it highly unprofessional. I see no reason whatsoever why a third round is basically starting the whole thing from scratch.
"It seems odd to me that, if there is a genuine will to sell and you have three serious bidders, why you don't sit down with the bidders, discuss and negotiate and hopefully come to a number that everyone can agree.
"I can't see the Glazers spending a lot of money on new players. If they have decided to sell the club, why would they do that? The potential to have a negative impact on the club is big and is growing every day when there is no decision on this."
© Reuters
Zilliacus, who is the former chairman of Finnish football club HJK Helsinki, also recently said that he would be interested in striking a deal with both Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim.
"I don't see any reason why I can't work with Sir Jim and Sheikh Jassim," The Mirror quoted Zilliacus as saying. "It makes perfect sense.
"We could agree on a price the Glazers will accept and instead of one of us paying a huge sum to buy United, we split the cost into three. We then use the money we have saved to improve the club and pool our collective expertise to help rebuild the club we all love.
"Someone said to me that you don't buy a Ferrari and then share it with two other people. But this isn't an ego trip for me. I don't think you can ever own an institution like Manchester United - the club belongs to the fans."
The Glazer family are thought to want £6bn to sell the club, but the highest offers currently on the table are believed to be in the region of £5bn.
