By Fraser Fletcher, Transfer Correspondent

16th Feb, 2023 | 12:34pm

Man United takeover: Chelsea mystery bidder could make 'surprise' offer - Ben Jacobs

The Glazer family are expected to receive several bids from North America for Man United, sources have told Football Insider.

Journalist Ben Jacobs has told Football Insider that Crystal Palace shareholders Josh Harris and David Blitzer are “ones to watch” ahead of Friday’s bid deadline and did not rule out the possibility of Stephen Pagliuca making a surprise bid.

Harris and Blitzer, founders of Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, were part of a consortium that made it to the final shortlist to potentially acquire Chelsea last year but ultimately lost out to US sports investor Todd Boehly.

In their bid for the Blues they combined with British businessman and former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton but Jacobs revealed that they trio won’t be linking up again in their pursuit of United.

Pagliuca, co-owner of the Boston Celtics and Serie A side Atalanta, also made an offer for Chelsea last year and made the shortlist of candidates.

Speaking on Football Insider’s YouTube channel on Wednesday night, Jacobs said: “Don’t be surprised if after all of this hype around Ratcliffe and Qatar and possibly Saudi Arabia, we actually see more than one credible bid coming out of North America.

“That is because entities do not do their business in public. If you are a private investment firm, you may not want it out there that this is your strategy. You may not want it out there that these are the funds you have got and are prepared to pay until after you are successful.

“Who knows what other direction you will choose to move in if you are not successful and then you have actually let slip in the market what your valuation is, what your strategy is and that can affect you detrimentally even though the more public it is the better it is for the Man United stock price.

“So when we think about North American names, I would say Harris and Blitzer have always been one to watch. They will not be combining with Sir Martin Broughton like they did for Chelsea. Broughton is out of the mix for Liverpool and never had an interest in Man United.

“Harris Blitzer could still be there potentially for minority investment and Steve Pagliuca is yet to comment.

“I do not think we can read too much into it but he was the mystery bidder for Chelsea and he owns Atalanta in Serie A and is also the co-owner of the Boston Celtics so there would also be some issues between Atalanta and Man United.

“But let’s see whether he is a part of any group as he was with Chelsea. At the moment it is just a ‘no comment’, we can’t read too much into that but it is those kind of names.“

With links to other football clubs, and particularly Pagliuca’s co-ownership of Atalanta, both parties could face difficulties with Uefa regulations.

Article 5 of Uefa’s regulations prevents owners or majority shareholders from having “control or influence” over more than once club participating in Uefa club competitions which include the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League.

In other news, a pundit has made ‘massive’ Man United takeover claim as bid comes in – ‘everything about them is huge’.