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CHRIS WHEELER: Manchester United’s stuttering sale could have a severe impact on Erik ten Hag’s transfer plans as Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s £6m battle with the Qataris drags on… the only winners of this chaotic affair will be the Glazers

Before their world collapses in the chaotic denouement to Trading Places, Randolph and Mortimer Duke wear the smug look of two obscenely rich businessmen who are about to get a whole lot richer.

You can picture Joel and Avram Glazer with similar expressions today as the sale of Manchester United heads towards an equally desperate and frantic finale. Only this time, the brothers are guaranteed to get exactly what they want.

No sooner had we expected Sir Jim Ratcliffe to complete his takeover of the club than Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani pops up with a last-minute offer on Tuesday, more than two weeks after the deadline for the third and supposedly final bids had passed.