Glazer nearly faced Gaddafi battle

Manchester United may be in the throes of an attempted takeover by American tycoon Malcolm Glazer but they have escaped a similar bid by the family of Libyan ruler Colonel Muammar Gaddafi

Saadi Gaddafi, the son of the president, has admitted that late last year he tried to persuade the Libyan regime to back a takeover bid for the club.

Saadi revealed his intentions to the Financial Times, saying: "Seven or eight months ago we were about to buy shares in Manchester United. We kept it secret because I thought we were going to do it. But now it's impossible.

"I told my father it would be like buying the Church of England. It's very hard, maybe impossible because of the fans and the history, very difficult.

"It's a golden, golden, golden, golden club."

Saadi managed to persuade his father to give his personal support to the bid, but he was unable to persuade other elements of the Tripoli regime to back his plan and was reluctantly forced to shelve it.

He has instead turned his attention to Juventus and the Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company now own a 7.5 per cent stake in the Italian club.

Saadi also claims that the same elements in the Libyan government who put the brakes on his Manchester United venture are also trying to scupper Juventus' £170million 10-year sponsorship deal with Tamoil, the Libyan state oil company, which was announced last month.