David Beckham damaged by dramatic twist with Manchester United return dream close to dying

Now, however, that doesn't seem to be the case.

On Saturday night, Sheikh Jassim said he would be walking away from the race to buy United having failed to reach an agreement on the price.

Then, shortly afterwards, news broke of Ratcliffe being set for minority investment.

The INEOS chief has long wished to own a British football club, having previously missed out on Chelsea to Todd Boehly last year.

Ratcliffe is, however, prepared to secure a 25 per cent share if it means owning all of United further down the line.

That has given him an edge over Sheikh Jassim, with the Qatari billionaire flatly refusing to bid for minority investment.

And for Beckham, his United dream may be over.

Last week, Beckham hinted he was fully behind Qatar's bid by confirming he 'knew people' who would work wonders at United.

"We are one of the, if not the biggest club in the world. We want stability," he said.

"I think that's the most important thing.

"We all have our favourites of who we feel needs to run the club and look after the club to take it back to where it belongs.

"In our eyes, in the eyes of the fans, we are number one.

"We want to be back at the top and I believe I know the right people to do that so we'll see!"

Instead, it now seems Ratcliffe is in pole position to at least lessen some of the Glazers' power at United.

There is one silver lining for Beckham at least, though.

Reports have said Ratcliffe's attempts to buy a 25 per cent stake in United is far from straightforward, even with Sheikh Jassim no longer in the race.

The British billionaire fears rivals coming to the table in order to attempt a late hijack.

And he'll only invest if the Glazers outline a way he can own all of the club in the future.

The family confirmed last November they would be conducting a 'strategic review' as they consider their options for the long term.

But if Ratcliffe doesn't get the assurances he wants it's possible the 70-year-old will abandon his pursuit.

Beckham and Sheikh Jassim seem to have no chance of being involved at United in the future right now, however.

And that'll be a substantial blow for many fans who have been eager to see the duo arrive.

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Beckham also confirmed back in July that he'd love to return to United, saying: "I have a lot going on here at the moment and my focus has purely been on [Inter] Miami and everything that goes on in my business.

"But I haven't been approached and I suppose any involvement with Manchester United would mean the world to me, going forward.

"But who knows?

"We'll see what happens in the next few weeks or months.

"Hopefully, a decision gets made and if I'm involved in any way… if not, I'll be a United fan and just do what all the other fans are doing - turn up and watch our team."