Formal bids to take over Manchester United from the Glazer family must be submitted by this Friday, and Elon Musk is among those monitoring the situation at Old Trafford.

Elon Musk is among the many parties weighing up a formal bid for Manchester United as the deadline to make offers approaches.

The Red Devils were put up for sale by their owners, the Glazer family, last November and formal bids must be submitted by Friday for The Raine Group, the bank overseeing the transaction, to assess. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest man and the chief executive of INEOS, announced in January that he is attempting to take control of the club he supports.

He faces reported competition from Qatari investors, the Middle Eastern country’s Emir and individuals or consortiums based in Saudi Arabia and the United States. In an eye-catching update, Musk, another boyhood United fan, is also monitoring the situation with a matter of days until bids must be put on the table.

Musk, 51, is the second richest man in the world at the moment, with a net worth of around $188.6bn, so is one of only a few names who can easily afford to buy Man Utd.

The Daily Mail claim Musk is wondering if there might be an opportunity to bid for the Red Devils before Friday’s deadline, with a number of other potential buyers also in the mix.

Musk is certainly the biggest name to be linked with United, though, and some fans might be concerned about him becoming the owner after some controversial incidents since he took over Twitter.

The South African-born businessman is a divisive figure, and it remains to be seen if his other business ventures really make him suitable to running one of the world’s biggest football clubs.

Musk previously joked about buying the club but the Mail note that he has also made more serious comments about his support of the club.