The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has claimed that he was joking about a possible purchase of English Premier League Club, Manchester United.
Musk had tweeted “I’m buying Manchester United ur (sic) welcome” on his official Twitter handle in the early hours of Wednesday only to retract his statement, describing it as a joke.
The shock announcement gave the Red Devil’s fans a short-lived joy owing to their continuous call for the sale of the club in protest against their current American owners, the Glazer family, who also run the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Since the departure of legendary manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, in 2013, United who are the record title winners in the English top flight having won the division a total of 20 times since 1889, have become a shadow of its former self.
They haven’t won the league since 2013 and their fans have protested many times against the owners.
While reports of a possible sale continue to gather momentum, the Telsa boss was forced to clarify his tweet after reactions from fans who expressed their support for his purchase of the club.
Responding to the request, Musk wrote, “No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I’m not buying any sports teams.”
However, the Space enthusiast said, even though he was not considering buying any club, it would be Manchester United as they have been his favourite team since his early days as a kid.
“Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U,” he added, rubbing salt into the wound for some: “They were my fav (sic) team as a kid,” Musk explained.
Some Manchester United fans had previously urged Musk on Twitter to consider buying the club, complaining at what they see as under-investment at one of the world’s biggest football clubs.
United haven’t won the English league title since Ferguson claimed the last of their record 20 wins in 2013, despite the efforts of a cast of eight permanent and temporary coaches since then.