PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN Salman’s rumoured interest in buying Manchester United is false according to a denial issued by one of his ministers in Saudi Arabia.

A report by The Sun claimed Bin Salman was readying a £3.8 billion (€4.3bn) bid – a deal that would give the Glazer family a huge £2.2bn (€2.5bn) profit on the club they controversially acquired for £790 million (€901 million) in 2005.

With the Glazers having struggled to win over the support of fans throughout their time in charge of United, takeover speculation has surfaced at regular intervals.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman is the latest to have been linked with an effort to wrestle power from the current American ownership in Manchester.

A tweet from Turki Al-Shabanah, the minister for Saudi media, has admitted to a meeting taking place between United representatives and the Gulf state’s royal investment fund, but only to discuss a potential sponsorship tie-up.

“The news that Prince Mohammed bin Salman desires to acquire Manchester United is completely untrue news,” Al-Shabanah’s tweet read.

“The fact of the matter is that the club held a meeting with the public investment fund to discuss an advertisement sponsorship project.

“The Fund listened to the proposals as [it would] any other”.

In October 2017, United agreed a strategic partnership in Saudi Arabia with the country’s General Sports Authority (GSA).

United also have a commercial partnership with Saudi Telecom and, at the time of the GSA deal, United’s group managing director Richard Arnold said,”the club has a long-standing relationship with Saudi Arabia and has over five million passionate fans in the region.

“Having the chance to help shape the football industry in the Kingdom is a great honour and it is something where we believe we can make a big difference.”

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