Sir Jim Ratcliffe may have taken a significant step towards taking control of Manchester United after it emerged his bid put a higher value on the club than Sheikh Jassim's.
Sources with knowledge of the bidding process have told the BBC that the offer from the leading British businessman last week was the highest, relative to the stake he intended to take.
Qatar banker Sheikh Jassim wants to buy 100% of United and has offered about £5billion, but the British businessman only wants a controlling stake.
This was initially viewed as the Glazer family's 69% stake - but, over recent days, it has been suggested Sir Jim may reduce that figure to allow co-chairmen Joel and Avram Glazer to retain some link, although his ownership would not be less than 51%.
The Glazer family must now decide how they want to proceed.
Sir Jim and Sheikh Jassim are the two main parties looking to take control of the world-famous club.
Offer withdrawn
Last month, Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus withdrew his offer to buy United, saying the decision of the Glazer family to go to a third round of bidding was a "farce".
Mr Zilliacus added: “The delays will make it very difficult for any new owner to build a winning team for next season.
"I will not participate in a farce set up to maximise the profit for the sellers at the expense of Manchester United."
Mr Zilliacus wanted to buy United through XXI Century Capital, an investment firm owned by his holding company.
When publicly announcing his bid, the entrepreneur said he planned to acquire half of the club with the other half bought by fans, who would be part of club decision-making.
The Glazer family, who bought the Red Devils for £790million in 2005, announced they were considering selling last November.
Additional time
It was initially hoped the process being run by the Raine Group would be completed by the end of the season, but the additional time for new bids meant that was now unlikely to happen.
It is not known how many parties were originally interested in taking over the club, though it was initially thought there could have been eight or more.