Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a potential buyer, claims that the Glazer family is not interested in parting with Manchester United.
Ratcliffe has expressed interest in purchasing United. He also made a purchase offer for Chelsea in the summer.
On Tuesday, he clarified that the club is not up for sale.
With an estimated net worth of £9.8 billion, Ratcliffe is the CEO of the chemical company INEOS and the richest person in Britain.
“Manchester United is owned by the Glazer family, whom I have met,” Ratcliffe told the Financial Times at an event on Tuesday.
“I’ve met Joel [Glazer] and Avram [Glazer] and they are the nicest people, I have to say.
“They are proper gentlemen, really nice people, and they don’t want to sell it. It’s owned by the six children of the father, and they don’t want to sell it.
“If it had been for sale in the summer, yes, we would have probably had a go following on from the Chelsea thing but we can’t sit around hoping that one day Manchester United will become available.”