The latest delay in the Manchester United takeover saga could be 'bad news' for all parties according to journalist Ben Jacobs.

It has been nearly eight months since the Glazer family announced that they would "explore strategic alternatives" however no agreement has been reached with any prospective buyers.

Who is likely to take over Manchester United?

There have been two major frontrunners in the United takeover process.

Sheikh Jassim and the Nine Two Foundation have submitted five offers to buy the club from the American family, with a recent update being that following their fifth bid, if his offer was not accepted by Friday, June 9th, he would be withdrawing from the process.

It then seemed for a number of weeks that the Qatari had been successful with his final bid, with news released about PSG owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi helping both sides of the process. Shortly following that, a newspaper owned by Sheikh Jassim's father Sheikh Hamad tweeted that the Qatari bid for United had been successful according to “press reports”. Reuters also weighed on, stating that the club were in exclusivity talks with the Nine Two Foundation, however since then, it has gotten quiet.

The other major contender to earn stewardship of the Red Devils is INEOS, with the bid headed by chairman and Manchester United fan Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Most recently with Ratcliffe, journalist Kieran Maguire suggested that the billionaire could turn his attention towards Spanish giants Barcelona due to the uncertainty with the situation at Old Trafford.

The big difference between Sheikh Jassim's bid and Sir Jim Ratcliffe's bid is that the British billionaire's bid isn't for 100% of the club. Due to the fact that the Glazers would maintain some stake in United, the INEOS bid was seen as the favourite for a number of weeks until Sheikh Jassim's fifth bid. Since then, there have been doubts about whether Sir Jim Ratcliffe's offer could leave the Glazer family with a lot of litigation to deal with for years to come from the institutional investors who own 31% of the club.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Jacobs revealed that he believes the takeover will not be completed until the late stages of the transfer window, which is disappointing for both Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim, who were hoping to make a strong start in the market: "The good news for +United is that they have been able to move in the transfer market, which was always the case regardless of any prospective new owner. But the bad news for Manchester United, in terms of the long-term clarity, is that the window could potentially close or be very close to closing before any prospective new owner – should they come in – has any influence.

That may not impact the plan coming into this window, as far as the current Manchester United recruitment team are concerned, but it's highly frustrating to both Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe because when they first started this process, they were very much planning around being able to impact this window. Now it doesn't look like that's going to be able to be the case."

Who are Manchester United looking to sign?

Due to the uncertain ownership situation as well as potential FFP problems, reports have stated that the Red Devils are operating within a strict budget this summer.

The club have already completed the signing of Mason Mount from Chelsea in a deal that could reach £60m, and they are looking to seal deals for both a new number one as well as a new number nine.

According to Fabrizio Romano, United are on the verge of completing the signing of Inter Milan shot-stopper Andre Onana. The Cameroon international previously worked under manager Erik ten Hag at Ajax, and would come straight into the starting spot following club legend David de Gea's departure this summer.

On the striker front, Atalanta's Rasmus Hojlund is reportedly the priority target for the club, however, the two sides remain apart on their valuation of the Danish forward, with the Italian side wanting a fee in the region of £60m.

The club will be hoping to have all their transfer deals, and potentially even the long-awaited takeover completed by the time they kick off their Premier League season at Old Trafford against Wolverhampton Wanderers.