Qatar move to buy Spanish club amid growing uncertainty over Man Utd takeover
Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), chaired by Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, is exploring the possibility of buying a controlling stake in Spanish club Malaga.
It comes amid a group led by Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani joining the bidding process to buy Manchester United. The Glazers have pushed back their deadline to complete a sale of the club with the ownership situation at Old Trafford still unclear.
The Glazer family are exploring outside investment or a full sale of the club they bought 18 years ago. The Americans are deeply unpopular among the club's fans, with the Red Devils having gone a decade without winning the Premier League title.
Two bids are known to have been made for a full takeover, with the group led by Al Thani battling British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The soft deadline for bids closed last month, though a public statement on the situation is yet to be made by United.
A report from Spanish radio station Cadena Cope now outlines how QSI, who own Paris Saint-Germain, have opened negotiations to buy a controlling stake in Malaga. This is tempered by Diario AS and Marca, who both say that a deal is being explored but is not yet advanced.
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Malaga are currently owned by Abdullah Al Thani – from the Qatari ruling family and a distant relative of Qatar's previous ruler Sheikh Hamad. Despite initial heavy investment into the Andalusian club after buying them in 2010 – including reaching the Champions League quarter-finals in 2012-13 – their fortunes have plummeted since.
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Al Thani’s investment into the club dried up and they slid into chaos. They were relegated from La Liga in 2018 and appear to be set for another relegation this year, into Spain’s regionalised third tier – which could throw their very existence into question.
However, Malaga remain an attractive proposition to investors due to their history, fanbase and potential of being a one-team city. For any sale to be considered, Al Thani would have to deposit €9million to free-up the sale of 51 percent of the club’s shares.
This latest development follows QSI meeting with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy in London in January as they weighed up buying a minority stake in the North London club. Spurs are on the lookout for more investment with Levy facing growing discontent from Spurs fans.
Alongside owning 100 percent of PSG, QSI have a 21.67 percent stake in Portuguese club Braga – widely recognised as the fourth biggest club in the nation – but they are hopeful of becoming investors in another European club in continental competition, alongside at least one South American club.
QSI is thought to be owned by the Qatar finance ministry and the Qatar Olympic Committee. Nasser Al-Khelaifi is the chairman of QSI and president of PSG. He publicly confirmed four months ago that he was considering selling a minority share of PSG to new investors. QSI are not interested in a full sale of the club, but an unnamed American investment fund has been linked with buying 15 percent.
In December, it emerged that the Glazer family did not take dividend payments from United for the first time in six years, partly due to the club's huge transfer spend last summer. Any major decisions on its future, including permanent transfers, will be held up until the future is clarified.
The Glazers have hired the Raine Group to act as the Red Devils' exclusive financial advisor and try to find interested parties. At the end of last year, Avram Glazer used his trip to watch the World Cup in Qatar to hold talks with potential investors in United.
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