After a few months of relative calm, Manchester United's protracted takeover process suddenly shot back to life over the past month, and it would appear as if the end is very much in sight.
Here's everything we know about the current situation, from a partial takeover to a disappointed party. It is never a simple story with Man United.
What is the latest news on the Manchester United takeover?
The most pertient news surrounding Manchester United's potential takeover broke on Saturday 14th October, when it was revealed that Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani had withdrawn from the race to buy the club from the Glazer family.
This significant change to the process has now left British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe as the only serious contender left willing to pay for the club. However, despite being the only serious party left in the process, the likely outcome is now no longer a straightforward purchase of the club, but instead something altogether more complicated.
Ratcliffe's offer to the Glazers is to buy a 25% stake in United instead of 100%, as Sheikh Jassim proposed.
According to Sky Sports News, the proposal from the OGC Nice owner would see him purchase a portion of the Glazer's personal shares and the publicly-traded stock on the New York Stock Exchange.
In all, his offer would see him pay in the region of £1.3bn for just a quarter of the club. However, there might be cause for optimism among United fans, as there is a possibility that this purchase is just the start of a longer process that would eventually see Ratcliffe assume complete control of the club – as was his initial ambition.
Read more: The latest Man United transfer rumours
While it would be foolish to guarantee that Sheikh Jassim is now entirely out of the picture, it does seem incredibly unlikely that he will make any more offers. According to football finance expert Kieran Maguire, the Qatari businessman and his associates were left frustrated by the conduct of the Glazers, telling Football Insider: "Senior sources close to the Sheikh Jassim bid have indicated to me that there was increased frustration towards the conduct of the Glazers.
"On more than one occasion, they had agreed to increase the bid. They had agreed to some concessions as far as the demands of the Glazers were concerned. Yet every time that they felt that they were close to shaking hands on a deal, the terms were changed.
"In the end, they didn't want to be taken advantage of."
However, another piece of takeover speculation has since come out of left field, and that's the speculation that United legend David Beckham could spearhead a consortium bid to take control of the club.
These rumours were initially started by Rio Ferdinand on his Vibe with Five podcast when he said (via The Mirror): "Becks will come with a consortium.
"When you mention someone like Becks' name, he's obviously a part-owner of Inter Miami but he doesn't come [alone]. It's not his money. It's not him in terms of putting his hand in his pocket. He comes with a consortium. He comes with people who do have deep pockets who have the ability to go and execute on a deal like that."
Read more: The top 10 David Beckham moments – ranked
Finally, another famous sports star and United fan has also signalled his desire to own part of Manchester United. Golfer Rory McIlroy revealed that should the opportunity arise to get involved with Ratcliffe's purchase, he would jump at it, saying: "I would have loved to have taken 0.00001 per cent of Manchester United when Jim Ratcliffe took 25 per cent. And if another opportunity comes my way, I will look at it. But it is not something that has come across our table as of yet.
There's never a normal day at Manchester United, is there?
Why are the Glazers selling the club?
Because they can make an enormous profit, essentially. Malcolm Glazer only put up £272m to purchase United back in 2005, despite the club being worth over £800m, per The Guardian. He achieved that through a leveraged buyout, putting up the club's assets as collateral against a loan.
In effect, the club paid for its own buyout – they've been saddled with enormous debt ever since as the Glazers slowly paid off the rest of the purchase using United's money.
A recent report from the Evening Standard suggests that the Glazers value the club at around £7-10bn – there's your reason for the sale.
Who is trying to buy Man Utd?
There are – or should we say were – two potential buyers. The first, Sheikh Jassim, is from the powerful Qatari Royal Family. The second, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, is the UK's richest man.
There are other options, of course. The Mirror claims that several US investment companies would like to take minority stakes in United, allowing the Glazers to retain control but with more spending power.
Finally, there are also rumours concerning the interest of David Beckham and Rory McIlroy, but both seem unlikely to amount to anything.
Ultimately, while it's impossible to rule out the other parties with absolute certainty, Sir Jim Ratcliffe now looks like the only party with a realistic chance of completing his deal, even if it is just for part of Manchester United.
Who is Sheikh Jassim?
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani is the son of Qatar's former Prime Minister. He was educated in the United Kingdom before returning to Qatar, where he currently acts as chairman of the Qatar Islamic Bank. Sheikh Jassim was previously on the board of Credit Suisse – one of the world's biggest investment banks.
However, it's unclear what his actual net worth is, and it's thought that the majority of the money here comes from Qatar itself. Per the BBC, there are suggestions that Premier League clubs would want any purchase fully investigated under suspicions that the state will provide the funds. Those suspicions were only given strength when Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi – also chairman of Qatar Sports Investments – spoke with the Glazers in May.
As for Jassim himself, he's said to be a lifelong Manchester United fan. The controversy, though, is whether he's actually the one buying the club, although recent developments that would appear to be irrelevant.
Who is Sir Jim Ratcliffe?
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is, per the Sunday Times, the second-richest figure in the UK. He has a net worth standing at just under £30bn and is the chairman/CEO of INEOS chemicals group – a company he founded in 1998.
From Greater Manchester, Ratcliffe is a lifelong United fan and has actually stepped into football before. He, through INEOS, owns OGC Nice in France, though he hasn't found much success with them. Ratcliffe also attempted to purchase Chelsea during the dramatic bidding war last year, but saw a £4.25bn bid rejected.
When will the takeover be completed?
With the news that Sheikh Jassim has now walked away from the takeover process and that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is likely to see his offer to buy 25% of the club accepted, this whole saga could be wrapped up sooner than many would have predicted just last week.
Granted, these developments mean that a complete takeover could be years away, but for now, at least, it appears this story will be coming to a reasonably swift conclusion.
That said, in the unlikely event that the Qataris to come back in with a new bid, this story could easily go on into the new year.
How did this affect Manchester United in the transfer window?
Initially, there were worries that United wouldn't really be able to do anything in the transfer window because of the takeover talks. But the signings of Mason Mount, Rasmus Hojlund and Andre Onana reassured fans somewhat that there was still money to spend.
However, the positive momentum that those signings created quickly faded once it was clear that the club were relying on the potential sales of players like Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay to fund the rest of their summer targets.
When those two could not be sold, the club were resigned to offering Jonny Evans a one-year deal and signing Sofyan Amrabat on a season-long loan, which left many fans feeling let down.