By Fraser Fletcher, Transfer Correspondent

16th Feb, 2023 | 4:55pm

'He is the one to watch' - Jacobs: Boehly rival could now submit Man United bid

The Qatari group linked with a Man United takeover will not simply “blow the competition out of the water” with a sky-high bid, sources have told Football Insider.

Journalist Ben Jacobs has told Football Insider that Saudi Media Group’s CEO Mohamed Alkhereiji is among the investors who are rivalling the Qatar Investment Authority in their campaign to take control at Old Trafford.

Alkhereiji headed a private consortium that rivalled Todd Boehly with an eye-watering £2.7billion offer to acquire Chelsea last May.

The would-be United investor is believed to be a Chelsea fan and has ties to the UK after studying at Cass Business School in London.

Despite the huge offer, Alkhereiji’s consortium did not make it onto the shortlist of candidates, which was eventually whittled down with Boehly’s consortium coming out on top.

Jacobs expects the Saudi to make an offer for United ahead of the Raine Group’s “soft” deadline of Friday (17 February) for all bids to be submitted.

Speaking on Football Insider’s YouTube channel on Wednesday (15 February), Jacobs said: “Mohamed Alkhereiji is the other one to watch.

“He is the Saudi national from Saudi Media Group that tried to buy Chelsea and placed, on paper at least, a very high-value offer.

“But there were concerns about the makeup of the group and the source of the funding and it was using more borrowed funds than other bids.

“We should learn a lesson from that. Ultimately, everyone thinks Qatar can somehow just blow the competition out of the water but that is not the point of this type of investment. They will want value. They are not just going to overbid for the sake of it.

“Also, as Al-Khereiji proved, just because you bid high does not mean that you immediately end up being put through.“

In other news, sources have provided critical update on Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Man United takeover bid – ‘He’s saying…’