Manchester United bidder Sheikh Jassim and The Nine Two Foundation may have set up a way to exit the ownership process on their own terms by submitting a new bid to try and seize control of the club, according to journalist Ben Jacobs.

What's the latest ownership news involving Manchester United?

According to Sky Sports, Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and The Nine Two Foundation has submitted a fifth and final bid to take over at Manchester United and has stated that the offer must be accepted by this Friday or he will bow out of proceedings.

The report claims that Sheikh Jassim wants to acquire 100% control of the club and wants to upgrade infrastructure around Old Trafford and the Carrington training complex alongside clearing £1 billion worth of debt at Manchester United.

His rival bidder, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his petrochemicals firm INEOS, are proposing taking majority control of the Red Devils in a deal that could keep Joel and Avram Glazer on as minority stakeholders.

BBC Sport claim that there has not been any indication yet from the Glazer family over who they would prefer to sell Manchester United to as of yet.

Speaking to Football FanCast, journalist Jacobs thinks that The Nine Two Foundation may have set up a scenario to leave the bidding war on their own accord rather than by being rejected.

Jacobs told FFC: "If they're not successful, then they've put something out there that effectively says this has to resolve itself one way or the other, or quickly, which means that instead of being rejected, or instead of being made to wait, they are trying to either win or walk away on their own terms. I think that that is very typical of a bid from Qatar, whereby they don't like to lose, so they're doing everything that they think it takes to win. At the same time, they're paving the foundations to walk away if they need to, because they think that the Glazers might not want to sell as the six and do so on their own terms."

What next for Manchester United?

Manchester United boss Erik Ten Hag and his recruitment team can't control the destination of where the ownership of the club may lie and will instead focus on trying to bring in quality additions ahead of next season as they aim to build on a solid showing in 2022/23.

ESPN report that the Dutch manager isn't sure where he stands with regards to his plans for the upcoming window, stating: "I think it's clear what I want, but it's not up to me. It's about others in this club. The family are the owners, they make the decisions. It's not up to me, so I do everything I can and I influence the processes I'm in charge of."

In terms of potential additions to his squad, Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount has been a prominently mentioned name in the media and is said to have agreed personal terms over a transfer to Old Trafford, as per talkSPORT.

Tottenham Hotspur star man Harry Kane is also on the radar at Manchester United, as per Sky Sports, though it will remain to be seen how much financial muscle the Red Devils will be able to flex in the market while in the process of a potential transition of ownership.