XAVI BELIEVES a Qatar takeover will be good for Manchester United.
The Barcelona coach played for Qatar side Al Sadd between 2015-19 and went on to coach them from 2019-21.
EPABarcelona and Spain legend Xavi warmed up for Thursday’s Europa League second leg at Old Trafford by praising United bidder Sheikh Jassim[/caption]
Man Utd would flourish if Sheikh Jassim took over, Xavi suggests
He was also an ambassador for the recent World Cup and knows United bidder Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani.
Ahead of Barca’s Europa League match against United he said the club-owning Glazers would do well to accept his bid.
Xavi said: “I have a good relationship with the Sheikh and I think he would do a good job.
“I think he is a very good person with serious responsibilities.”
Sheikh Jassim is up against Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS group to take control of the club after the Glazer’s put it up for sale for around £6billion.
In a statement last week Sheikh Jassim made his intentions clear to buy the club out right and make it number one again.
His statement said: “The bid plans to return the club to its former glories both on and off the pitch, and – above all – will seek to place the fans at the heart of Manchester United Football club once more.
“The bid will be completely debt free via Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation, which will look to invest in the football teams, the training centre, the stadium and wider infrastructure, the fan experience and the communities the club supports.
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“The vision of the bid is for Manchester United Football Club to be renowned for footballing excellence, and regarded as the greatest football club in the world.”
Xavi also believes that the Sheikh would be buying a club on the up again under Erik Ten Hag’s management.
He said: “Manchester United are one of the best teams in Europe at the minute, showing their quality and competitiveness through great results.
“They’re the best United I’ve seen in the last few years, with a great coach, and great players who show a lot of personality and passion.”
To beat them tonight Barcelona will have to try and keep Marcus Rashford quiet.
He scored in the 2-2 first leg of this tie, which has a place in the last 16 of the competitions as the reward.
After his double at the weekend against Leicester he now has 16 in his last 17 games since returning from the World Cup and 24 in all for the season.
Centre-back Joules Kounde had a tough time handling him in the first leg and Ten Hag was furious that he had not been sent off when coming into contact with the England international as he broke away in the second-half.
But Kounde said: “I think it was 50-50. There is contact but I think it’s very light.
“I think it’s very light and the referee decided to not give me a red card, so I don’t feel lucky. I feel it’s part of the decision of the referee.
“It’s true that I think I could have been sent off because it was 50-50 but the referee made the decision and obviously I’m very happy.”