'I made Manchester United a $20bn takeover offer - now I have new proposal'

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Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus has unveiled a fresh strategy to attract investors in a bid to buy Manchester United . He had previously proposed a plan that could have netted the club a whopping $20billion in 2023.

Zilliacus was among the contenders, including Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe , when the Glazer family considered selling part or all of the club two years ago. Despite his fan-led proposal not making the cut, he insists it could have been a profitable venture.

The ex-Nokia official revealed that his team was working on an app that would have allowed fans to gain a small stake in the club and some control in how it's run for a fee of $400. This "Swedish model", as he called it, had been trialled and in theory could have generated up to $20b if just five per cent of his estimated one billion United fans worldwide were targeted.

Zilliacus has now stated that he is once again open to investing in the club . His updated position includes a willingness to collaborate with other backers, including the Glazers, amid ongoing rumours that the club is on the market .

He told the Manchester Evening News : "I would have no problem working with the Glazers. They could even hold a minority position where they could continue to enjoy a nice cash flow.

"But at the same time, the club could be developed so that it becomes once again, the best club in the world . And the fans are happy and everybody's happy. That's the way I see it."

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Zilliacus reckons that irrespective of his fresh proposal and his willingness to collaborate with the existing majority shareholders, the Glazer family will shortly offload their stake. He also suspects they will demand more than the club's actual value.

When quizzed about whether the Glazers will shortly exit Old Trafford, Zilliacus responded: "I would think so. I mean, they have already made so much money out of the club.

"They have not gelled well with the fans. I don't think people want to forever be involved with assets where they get a lot of negative feedback as owners, as the Glazers continue to do.

"So I would think that if the price is right, yes, they want to sell. That's how I would see it. I think that the time for that to happen will be pretty soon.

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"But looking at the experience two years ago, I think they will demand a hell of a lot and they will ask for more than what the club really is worth. But then again, there are two ways to look at the club.

"One is what is it worth today and the other is what it can become. What can it be worth with the right decisions made? The program that I have to engage the club to perhaps a billion fans around the world, that is where I see the real value.

"That value is very high, which means that you could actually justify a higher price than what the valuation is today, because of the potential that fan base holds."

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