Colonel Gadaffi nearly bought Man United instead of the Glazers

The former Libyan leader was just hours away from becoming the majority shareholder at Old Trafford

Posted Monday, January 29, 2018 by Dreamteamfc.com

Man United fans won't think the Glazers are so bad when they hear this.

Because even thought he American mega family have plundered bucket loads of cash from the club since they took over in 2005, everything could have worked out so differently.

in 2004 the era of the super owner was just taking off and United nearly had one of the wildest owners football would have ever seen.

According to a report in the Telegraph Libya's former dictator Colonel Gaddafi was just ‘hours away' from buying the club 14 years ago.

Imagine the scenes in the boardroom between Gaddafi and Sir Alex Ferguson.

You might be wondering how on earth a brutal dictator came so close to owning the biggest football club in the world.

Forget 4-4-2, you are looking at a revolutionary formation

Well it starts with horse racing tycoon JP McManus and John Magnier looking to sell their 29.9% after falling out with Ferguson.

Mehmet Dalman was the man tasked with finding a buyer and he got as far as flying to Libya by private jet to discuss the deal with Gaddafi's advisers.

"People don't realise how the [takeover] deal was a whisker away from going to Libya," Dalman said. "Gadaffi almost bought the club. That's how close it got - literally, you're talking about a few hours."

Neither party could agree on how much a third of ~United was worth and the Libyan general went on to purchase Italian club Perugia instead.

As United fans will know, the Glazers eventually bought the shareholding and went on to complete a full takeover within days.

Happy ever after right?