The Sun: Saudi businessman says Manchester United s sale is confusing and may have something to do with new stadium

"The Sun" reported that boxing promoter and Saudi tycoon Turki Aralshik's speculation about the potential sale of Manchester United may be related to plans to rebuild the Old Trafford Stadium.

Sources within Manchester United are puzzled by Alarchik's suggestion that the club is discussing a potential sale. Aralchik was linked with a takeover of Marseille two years ago and has been in contact with billionaire Rudolf Saade who is also considering buying Marseille. Saad is chairman and CEO of CMA CGM Group, which recently acquired Freightliner.

Freightliner owns the land around Old Trafford, which is crucial to Sir Ratcliffe's plans to build a new, 100,000-seat all-seater stadium next to Old Trafford.

Saad and Aralshik have met several times. Alarcic was the owner of Spanish club Almeria until earlier this year and is known in his home country for introducing boxing to the kingdom.

Sebastian Coe, head of the Old Trafford task force, flew to New York as recently as July to sound out potential investors who could help pay for the new stadium. Manchester United estimates that the cost of a new Old Trafford stadium could be as high as £2 billion.

After Aralchik’s remarks about a possible takeover of Manchester United sparked a heated discussion online, he downplayed the rumors on social media platforms. He wrote: "My post about the potential sale of Manchester United can only mean one thing: the club is in the advanced stages of negotiations with a new investor."

"For clarification, I am not the investor, nor is the investor from my country. I am posting this as a fan who hopes that a deal will happen, although it may not necessarily end up happening."

The Saudi government has been accused of "sports whitewashing" in connection with its boxing investment projects and the acquisition of Newcastle United. Saudi officials have made baseless hints in the past that a takeover was imminent, and sources within Manchester United suspected at the time it was an attempt to drive up the share price.

Ratcliffe discussed his relationship with Manchester United's majority shareholders, the Glazer family, in an interview on The Business podcast that aired on Wednesday. He said: "We are local, and they are across the ocean, and the United States is too far away to manage a football club as big and complex as Manchester United. We are here, down to earth."

"It's just a good working relationship, they come to the board meeting and we sit down and discuss About things. There may have been something written in the formal agreement about who would control the football operations, but I did say when those legal agreements were finalized, 'I hope that's the last time we see them.'"

"I never looked at those terms again."