Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has spotted a “false flag” amid rumours of a Man Utd takeover attempt by a UAE-based consortium.

Saudi Arabian boxing promoter Turki Al-Sheikh caused a stir amongst the Man Utdfanbase last week as he claimed a potential takeover of the club was ‘advanced’.

Al-Sheikh wrote on?X: ‘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.’

But?Al-Sheikh had to clarify his comments after speculation that he or another Saudi was involved in the potential takeover in some way.

Posting again the day after,?Al-Sheikh wrote: ‘My 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.’

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There have since been rumours that a UAE-based consortium have had a ‘meeting’ with Man Utd officials in Londonover a potential deal to buy the club from the Glazer family.

It has been revealed that the?drag-along rights included in the INEOS minority takeover means Sir Jim Ratcliffe could be forced to sell his shares if a new bidder for the club emerges.

Football finance expert Maguire has cast doubt on the takeover rumours, he told United In Focus:?“I think if the Glazers had wanted to sell at $32 per share for the whole club, then they would have done so.

“The fact that nothing has taken place speaks for itself. Yes, the share price has risen and I’ve been monitoring it myself.

“We’re still at $16, $17, and even that includes a speculative element to it.

“So the comments from Turki Al-Sheikh are intriguing, but the club has responded with a fairly heavy ‘no’, and given that it’s listed on the New York Stock Exchange, it’s got to be cautious about what it says publicly.

“So I think it’s a bit of a false flag that we’re seeing. If somebody wanted to get involved in a bid then Twitter’s not the best place to put out that information.

“So you do wonder about the motives of some of the people involved.”

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Journalist Ben Jacobs gave a comprehensive update on the potential takeover earlier this week, insisting that the Glazers have yet to receive an offer from any party.

Jacobs said on The United Stand: “So the latest is as follows: number one, the Glazers have not had an offer from anybody.

“Could they be holding talks behind other people at the club’s back? Absolutely. Are they advanced? No. And then where does the money come from? Well, Turki Al-Sheikh confirms something that we broke on this show, that it’s not Saudi Arabia.

“I don’t want to disappoint the chat, but Sheikh Jassim is not coming back to the table. There is no possibility, I am told. And in addition to that, the number the Glazers want is in excess of 5 billion pounds. And if you go back through the SEC filing to look at the different bids from shape, none of the offers were anywhere close to that number.

“And what makes the number higher is if, whilst this drag on clause is valid, the Glazers do sell. So Jim Ratcliffe is guaranteed $33 a share, which takes the overall valuation of the club to something around 4.7 billion.

“So again, not far off that 5 billion pound number. And all of this means, if someone’s to buy the club now, they’re going to have to pay a premium, and then Sir Jim Ratcliffe would have to go buy a wanted 100% so there’s a few variables here.”

Jacobs added: “The last thing, and the most interesting thing that I can add, and I think this counts as a bit of a United Stand exclusive, is that within the UAE, one company in particular is involved in these talks.

“It’s unclear whether they will front the consortium, but international holding company or IHC, which has been around for about three decades, have been part of talks to put together a perspective of a UAE-based Consortium.

“We don’t know whether anything is going to materialise. And as we said on talkSPORT a few weeks ago, some ex-Manchester United legends have also been sounded out not to invest, but just to be ambassadors.

“And quite interestingly, some, I think they’ll be excited to others, I think they will almost feel the optics of this are not quite right because of the kind of personality he is. One ex-Manchester United legend in particular has held direct talks about maybe coming on board.”

Jacobs continued:?“I would just stress one thing really, clearly, it is nowhere near as advanced as Turki implied, nor have the Glazers had any kind of direct contact.

“Yet there’s no guarantee this even develops into anything. But Eric Cantona is one of the names that has been approached.”