Manchester United expecting to receive eight bids from potential buyers on Wednesday

English Premier League side Manchester United is still up for sale and its American owners, the Glazer family, are reportedly expecting to receive as many as eight bids from interested buyers in the next 24 hours. A deadline has been set for the latest round of bids on Wednesday, and it remains to be seen if interest is as high as the the media are suggesting.

The Glazer family had been under immense pressure to let go of the club after a decline in quality on the pitch over the past decade. Fans have been up in arms over the way the club is being run, and they are desperate for change. As such, a change in ownership has been seen as the only remaining solution and the Glazers have agreed to accept bids from interested buyers.

So far, INEOS owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani of Qatar have publicly expressed interest in acquiring the legendary institution. However, Sky Sports is certain that at least six more unnamed entities have been preparing bids behind the scenes.

The second round of bids should come in by the Wednesday deadline, but it is unclear if the Glazers will be making the information entirely public. Apart from the aforementioned two parties, only US hedge fund Elliott Management has been linked interest. However, the company is reportedly seeking to help fund the potential bid of a different entity instead of seeking to control the club itself.

The Glazers remain firm on their valuation

It has long been revealed that the Glazer family has placed a £6 billion price tag on Manchester United. However, after the initial round of offers were placed last month, the highest bid reportedly only reached up to £4.5 billion. As such, no offer has been accepted, and we have now come down to the second, more formal round of bids.

There is still a huge gap between the previous best offer and the Glazers' valuation of the club. There are indications that none of the serious buyers are planning to meet the price tag, but the intermediary chosen to oversee the sale, US-based Raine Group, could try to pit preferred bidders against each other in what would effectively become an auction. However, if one bidder makes a significantly higher offer than the rest, they could exclusively earn the right to directly negotiate with the Glazers.

The top contenders want different things

While other potential buyers remain anonymous, Qatari royal Sheikh Jassim has been vocal about his desire to buy the club. Furthermore, he is seeking to take full control of Manchester United.

On the other hand, British Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is only looking at buying the 69 per cent controlling stake presently owned by the Glazer family. According to a previous interview quoted by The Sun, he is not keen on entering a bidding war against the Sheikh which would help the Glazers drive the price up and closer to their asking price.

"How do you decide the price of a painting? How do you decide the price of a house? It's not related to how much it cost to build or how much it cost to paint. What you don't want to do is pay stupid prices for things because then you regret it subsequently," he said.

Even though Ratcliffe is not willing to shell out cash blindly to complete the purchase, he is enjoying massive backing from Manchester United fans. Apart from being British, he is also known to be a lifelong fan of the club. The fans are concerned about the club's long glorious history, and many believe that they do not want to change the DNA of the club by handing it over to oil-rich Middle Easter owners.