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What is going on with the Manchester United takeover?

It has been the question of the spring, the summer and could well turn out to be the question of the autumn and beyond.

In less than a month Erik ten Hag’s side will start their Premier League season when Wolverhampton Wanderers visit Old Trafford.

While there remains uncertainty there is clarity in that the Glazer family will still be in control of the club when the curtain is raised on Monday, August 14.

We are now beyond a timeline that would allow for new owners to be in place.

The necessary Premier League checks alone would see to that, even if a buyer was announced in the next few hours.

While those involved in the process, which is being led by US merchant bank Raine, remain tight-lipped, it is safe to say that it was not meant to play out like this. It was back in November last year when the Glazers, despised by large sections of the fanbase since their 2005 leveraged buyout, effectively put the club up for sale.

The expectation was that a deal would have been completed by the end of the season. It was hoped that new owners would be in place to influence the summer transfer window.

A deadline for final bids came and went at the end of April. The runners expected to hear who had been successful in mid-June. And yet here we are.

Mail Sport understands that there are now concerns among those involved over whether the Glazers will sell. Some believe that the process may well be paused. The prospect of this lingering until autumn or even winter has been discussed in both camps.

When the Americans announced the ‘strategic review’ last year they may well have expected a Grand National. In an indication of how there was only one show in town, not long after the announcement rivals Liverpool were taken off the market. But what they got has turned out to be a two-horse race. There is no tech giant. No Apple, no Amazon.

While there are minor differences, the final bids from Qatar’s Sheikh and Britain’s Sir Jim Ratcliffe value the club at around £5bn. This is not what the Glazers were seeking. Insiders believe that figure was closer to £6bn.

Attempts have been made to raise those bids. They have not been successful.

While United’s share price, combined with their current revenue levels, would suggest that £5bn is a gross overpayment the view will be very different in the corridors of power.

Last year, the NFL’s Denver Broncos sold for $4.65bn. United’s owners have their own NFL franchise and the transaction will not have gone unnoticed. They may well feel justified in their demands given the size of the two clubs.

There is also the unique nature of the product. ‘They do not make more Manchester Uniteds,’ one source explained.

‘That means there is a massive premium involved. It is not a yacht or a helicopter, you can’t just go to a showroom and buy one.’

Other factors are at play. The extension of the Champions League, the increased Club World Cup and the additional revenue both will bring will be a consideration, as will the situation with muti-club ownership.

Some believe there will be moves made in the near future to lift barriers currently in place to stop groups owning more than one club in the same competition. Should that happen and, for example, Saudi Arabia get involved, the price only goes in one direction.

The preferred option now, especially with a manager who would appear to have the club back on an upward curve, could well be to keep the asset and sell it when there is more demand. Or to take one of the offers of minority investment and spend the cash providing Old Trafford and Carrington with the upgrades they need.

While those involved are reluctant to publicly criticise for obvious reasons, there is a growing frustration with how long this is taking. And the friction early in the process, which saw groups effectively told to keep their mouths shut by Raine, has also not helped matters.

One well-placed source described the process as ‘an utter charade’.

‘Fans should be asking questions,’ they said. ‘Look at the time this is taking. Easter comes and goes, then the end of the season, now we’re approaching August and there is still no clarity.’

The last noises were that the Ratcliffe bid had edged into the lead. However, issues among shareholders and the threat of legal action were subsequently raised as a potential sticking point.

Regardless, more weeks have passed since then, more weeks of silence.

Inside the club, staff are reluctant to speak, again for obvious reasons. But there has long been a frustration now bordering on incredulity with the lack of clarity. They too, thought the matter would have been resolved long before now.

Those frustrations may well be voiced by United’s supporters when Wolves come to town. But if we have learned one thing from the past 18 years, it is that the Glazers have skins akin to those of a rhinoceros. They are not regulars in Manchester and can easily turn a blind eye to online abuse. More may well be on its way.