Manchester United’s unique new Finnish bidder presents fresh take on running a football club

Manchester United are expecting offers apart from that of Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe ahead of the second round of bidding. And one of the new names in contention is Finnish businessman Thomas Zilliacus. 

His bid is rather unique, and would allow the fans to take control of the club. His offer is to finance half the takeover, with the fans financing the other half of it. The fans would then be allowed to vote on various matters through an app. 

Thomas Zilliacus launches unique bid for Manchester United 

”Any sport club ultimately should belong to its fans,” said Zilliacus. 

🗣️ – Thomas Zilliacus [#mufc bidder]: “My group will finance half of the sum needed to take over Man United and will ask the fans, through a new company created for this purpose, to contribute the other half. If each fan joins, that's less than $3 per fan.” pic.twitter.com/gJOj4HvAON

— UtdXclusive (@UtdXclusive) March 23, 2023

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“The current development, where billionaire sheiks and oligarks take over clubs and control them as their personal playgrounds is not a healthy trend. The current market value of the club is just under 3.9 billion USD. That means that if every one of the fans of the club would join in buying the club, the total sum per fan would amount to less than 6 dollars. My bid is built on equality with the fans.

“My group will finance half of the sum needed to take over the club, and will ask the fans, through a new company that is being set up for this specific purpose, to participate for the other half. If every fan joins it means less than 3 dollars per fan,” he explained. 

“Each fan who joins will have access to an app which the fan, from anywhere in the world, can use to participate and cast his vote when deciding on footballing matters relating to the club. No decisions will be taken that are not supported by a majority of the fan base.

“Manchester United should not only be the best football club in the world, it should also be the leading club in the world in working to stop abuse, racism and hate speech in social media and on sports grounds.

“Should we be successful in our bid we will ensure that Manchester United, the best football club in the world, will operate on a foundation of respect, equality, dignity, diversity, racial harmony and democracy, and with its global fan base included and involved in all decisions.”

Zilliacus is the former chairman of Finnish top-flight champions HJK Helsinki and ex-owner of ice hockey outfit Helsingin Jokerit. He is also the president of Mobile FutureWorks Group, based in Singapore, but with operations worldwide.