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Now Elon Musk says he's buying Manchester United! World's richest man breaks internet AGAIN

'No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I'm not buying any sports teams,' the Tesla owner clarified after a few hours

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND: Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has once again left the internet baffled. In a series of tweets, the tech mogul claimed that he was buying the English football club Manchester United. Elon Musk tweeted, "Also, I'm buying Manchester United ur welcome." This has left fans of the prestigious team gaping in disbelief while some enthusiastically asked Musk to go ahead.  

The team are in dire straits after an appalling start to the 2022-23 season. They hit rock bottom last weekend after a 4-0 loss at Brentford. The football club had a market capitalization of $2.08B, as of Tuesday. Musk is trying to exit a $44B agreement to buy Twitter, which has taken him to court. Forbes estimates his fortune at $270B. However after a few hours, Musk confirmed that he was joking when he said he was going to buy the team. The Tesla owner tweeted, "No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I'm not buying any sports teams. Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U." He went on to add, "They were my fav team as a kid." He has a history of posting irreverent tweets, making it difficult to know if he's joking.

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United haven't won the English league title since the days of legendary manager Alex Ferguson. The team has fallen behind crosstown rival Manchester City, which has taken home four of the last five championships. Star striker Cristiano Ronaldo will be permitted to leave United this summer provided he can find a team willing to purchase him. The team are rooted at the bottom of the English Premier League after losing their first two games and having failed over the past two months to adequately rebuild a squad that performed comparatively poorly last season. The team is controlled by the American Glazer family, who bought the club for $955.51million in 2005, but fans have protested this ownership. 

Musk had submitted a bid in the region of $41billion (£31bn) to buy Twitter in April but United fans wanted him to splurge on their faltering team. The anti-Glazer movement gained momentum last year after United were involved in a controversial but unsuccessful attempt to form a breakaway European Super League. Its New York-listed shares have slid 24 per cent over the last 12 months. The Glazers, who have faced widespread fan opposition to their stewardship since acquiring the club, reportedly said that they were prepared to sell but only if they were offered in excess of $4.85B. It is not known if Musk does intends to pursue a deal. His tweet had garnered more than 500,000 likes on the platform within six hours.

Broadcaster and United fan Andy Goldstein urged Musk to retract his offer to buy Twitter, and instead buy the Old Trafford side earlier this year. He said, "Elon, Elon. Retract your offer. Buy Man United. Spend £2b on the best players in the world. Win everything. And then boast about it on Twitter." One fan even went to the effort of creating mock United shirts with Tesla's logo on the front. The Manchester United Fans Club Kolkata said, "Elon and his tweets are just gimmicks. Although it would have been great if he really invested 1/10th of what he paid for Twitter to own this legendary club ... the entire fan base is sick and tired of the Glazers." 

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