What Barcelona boss Xavi has said about Man United bidder Sheikh Jassim

Barcelona manager Xaxi spoke about potential Manchester United owner Sheikh Jassim back when the teams met in the Europa League in February.

United’s takeover saga has now been going on for seven months and whilst it seems like there could be an announcement soon, some reports suggest that it could take eight to 12 weeks for the process to be complete after an initial decision on a winner is made.

Sheikh Jassim, who has made five bids for the Old Trafford club, has supposedly been chosen as the bidder to enter exclusivity with the club – information from Reuters said that United are negotiating exclusivity for the Qatari, although other reports have denied this.

There was also an interesting update from Rio Ferdinand on Thursday, in which he stated a “good source” has told him that Sheikh Jassim’s bid will be accepted by his former employers.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Jassim had set up his Nine Two UK Holdings Limited on Companies House, which was said to be a simple step that the bidder takes in order to prepare for if they win the battle, yet on the document he was joined by Abdulrahman Abdulla Al-Ansari, who is also a company director.

Back in February, both Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe had only recently publicly stated their intention to purchase Manchester United.

Freshly questioned about the Qatari bidder before their encounter against United that month, Barcelona boss Xavi only had good words to say about Sheikh Jassim.

“I have a good relationship with the person interested in buying the club, he’s a serious person and I’m sure he’d do a good job,” he told reporters.

“I know him so well. I think he’s a very good person with responsibility, serious. I think it would be a very good option for United.”

Further questioned on how he knows Sheikh Jassim, Xavi added: “Because I worked in Qatar (at Al Sadd) for six years.”