Man United's potential takeover: UAE group considering sensational bid and have already approached ex-players over involvement after claims the club are in 'advanced stage of completing a deal to sell to a new investor'

Manchester United could be the subject of a fresh takeover bid following a sensational claim by Saudi sports supremo Turki Al-Sheikh.

A consortium based in the United Arab Emirates is understood to be considering making an offer to the Glazer family, who would demand in excess of £5billion to sell the club, and have already approached some ex-United players about coming on board as ambassadors.

But there has so far been no contact with United's majority owners, and the picture is very different to the one painted by Al-Sheikh in a post to his 7.2million followers late on Wednesday night.

Daily Mail Sport was the first to report the news in the early hours of Thursday after Al-Sheikh wrote: 'The best news I heard today is that Manchester United is now in an advanced stage of completing a deal to sell to a new investor – I hope he's better than the previous owners.'

Al-Sheikh's claim has credence because he is the head of the General Entertainment Authority responsible for bringing some of the world's highest-profile sports events to Saudi Arabia, and is understood to be in talks with United over playing there during Riyadh Season which officially starts on Friday and runs until March.

However, the comment caught United by surprise, and Old Trafford insiders said Thursday that they don't know where his information has come from.

In fact, the consortium's plans are still at an early stage with no guarantee it will develop into a formal bid. It's understood the group is UAE-based, but the key figures are not from Saudi or neighbouring Qatar.

Al-Sheikh posted another message last night (thurs) saying: 'Yesterday's post about Manchester United's potential sale meant one thing: the club is in an advanced negotiation phase with a new investor.

'Just to clarify, I am not the investor, nor are they from my nation. I'm posting this as a fan who wishes the deal to happen, though it might not necessarily happen.'

Sir Jim Ratcliffe fended off a rival bid from a Qatari consortium headed by Sheikh Jassim Al-Thani when he bought 27.7 per cent of United from the Glazers for £1.3billion in a minority takeover in February of last year.

The deal included a 'drag-along' clause that took effect this August, enabling the Americans to open talks with potential investors without Ratcliffe's knowledge and force him to sell his shares.

The situation has raised some interesting questions over the dynamic between the Glazers and Ratcliffe, 24 hours after the Ineos billionaire denied that the majority owners could demand he sacks head coach Ruben Amorim.

'It's not going to happen,' said Ratcliffe after suggesting Amorim could be given two more years to prove he is the right man for the job.

'We're local and they (the Glazers) are the other side of the pond. That's a long way away to try and manage a football club as big as complex as Manchester United. We're here with feet on the ground.

'They get a bad rap … but they are really nice people and they are really passionate about the club.'

If United go ahead with a trip to Saudi this season to fill a gap in their schedule – and a black hole in their finances – after missing out on Europe, they could bank upwards of £10m by competing in the Riyadh Season Cup against Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal, and roughly half that by playing one of the Saudi Premier League's top clubs or All-Star team.