The next 48 hours will be vital to the fate of Manchester United Football Club, with representatives of Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and other potential bidders set to meet those of the Glazers.
According to SportsMail, a meeting will take place tomorrow and will include senior financial and executive figures from the interested parties.
The Raine Group, who are handling the sales process of behalf of the Glazers, have selected from among the bidders a handful with whom they wish to further talks.
For those parties, due diligence is already underway, with financial information having been made available to them as of Monday.
Full access to the club’s books will be given to a chosen party in the aftermath of Thursday’s talks in order to allow them to properly assess the circumstances before submitting a final offer.
Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim are the only two bidders who have gone public with their interest in purchasing the club.
The Raine Group is believed to be unhappy with the pair, having requested that certain details remain undisclosed to the public.
At least two other bidders are in the picture, with their identities a matter of pure speculation at this stage.
Many view the Qatar-based bid as the favourite to come out of this process with United under their control, although there have been suggestions that some bidders are waiting for Shiekh Jassim and Ratcliffe to “slug it out” before going public themselves.
In any case, the time for ‘soft bids’ appears to be over, with ‘firm offers’ now the order of the day.
The incumbents are now thought to be prioritising approaches for a full takeover, despite Avram and Joel Glazer seemingly keen on maintaining control.
As the saga rumbles on, United fans will be hoping for a speedy resolution in order to give Erik ten Hag plenty of time to prepare for a busy summer.