Soccer Football - Champions League Round of 16 First Leg - Manchester United v Paris St Germain - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - February 12, 2019 Manchester United players pose for a team group photo before the match Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s crown prince is not seeking to buy Premier League football club Manchester United, the kingdom’s media minister said on Monday, denying reports and adding that there had only been a meeting with the Saudi wealth fund regarding sponsorship. Reports that Mohammed Bin Salman intends to buy the club are “completely false”, the minister, Turki al-Shabanah, wrote on social network Twitter. He was reacting to reports that the crown prince had sought to tempt the Glazer family to cede control of the club. “Manchester United held a meeting with PIF Saudi to discuss (a) sponsorship opportunity,” Shabanah said, adding that no deal materialised. On Sunday, the British newspaper, the Sun, said the crown prince was in a £3.8-billion ($4.9-billion) takeover bid for one of football’s most popular clubs. The paper said a bid was first submitted in October but the fallout from the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s embassy in Istanbul put the “skids” on a potential offer. Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
Saudi Arabia has rejected rumours that its crown prince wants to take over Manchester United. In a statement, Gulf kingdom's media minister declared suggestions Mohammed Bin Salman could buy the side were "completely false", and that a meeting with the Saudi wealth fund was just about sponsorship. UK newspaper The Sun had earlier reported the crown prince was in talks with the team's owners, the Glazer family, for a £3.8bn ($4.9bn) deal to buy the club, but the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi had halted discussions.