Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer 'pushes ahead' with £650m takeover decision

Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer is, reportedly, one of six remaining candidates battling it out to invest in Lord's-based cricket franchise London Spirit.

The English Cricket Board (ECB) is in the midst of selling 49 per cent stakes in the eight Hundred franchise teams to generate what could be as much as £650m. The remaining 51 per cent of those teams will be gifted to the counties that host their matches, but they can choose to sell their remaining stakes should they wish.

Lancer Capital, whose chairman is Glazer, is thought to be interested in purchasing the highest-valued side London Spirit, as per reports from The Telegraph. At this stage, it's unclear whether Glazer would be purchasing the entirety of the Spirit, but it's also claimed that Glazer has conducted meetings with Surrey over the possibility of purchasing a minority stake in Oval Invincibles - who are another side in the competition.

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Surrey are understood to be insistent on keeping their 51 per cent stake in the Invincibles. While Glazer is firmly in the running for the Spirit, meanwhile, he's not alone in his interest.

Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly is thought to be rivalling Glazer for the stake in the Hundred's most-valuable asset. Meanwhile, the owners of IPL franchises Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants - as well as the owners of Formula One and Moto GP, Liberty Media - are also battling for the shares.

Now firmly in its second phase, meetings between these six would-be investors - including Glazer and Boehly - will continue this week and into next before the list is whittled down again. In the meantime, Glazer's other UK sporting investment United are welcoming Ruben Amorim to the club as their new head coach.

However, that decision to replace sacked Erik ten Hag with Amorim was conducted by Ineos figureheads.