Mystery Finnish Man Utd bidder Thomas Zilliacus wants FANS to stump up a staggering £1.5BILLION to help him buy club

FINNISH entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus has joined the race to buy Manchester United — but wants fans to cough up a staggering £1.5BILLION.

Zilliacus vowed to finance the other half of the £3bn bid.

GettyThomas Zilliacus says his bid is ‘built on equality with fans’[/caption]

APBidders hoping to take over or invest in Man Utd have until 9pm on Friday[/caption]

Sir Jim Ratcliffe made an improved world-record £5bn offer on Thursday, while Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani is expected to match that before Friday’s 9pm deadline.

Both believe Zilliacus’ pitch is nothing more than a publicity stunt.

But he said: “Any club ultimately should belong to its fans. My bid is built on equality with fans.

“The current development, where billionaire sheiks and oligarchs take over clubs and control them as their personal playgrounds, is not a healthy trend.”

US investment company Elliott have also made an offer to purchase a minority stake in the Prem giants, irrespective of who ends up owning the club.

Zilliacus, 69, added: “The market value of the club is just under £3.17bn.

“That means  if every one of the fans would join in, the sum per fan would amount to less than £5.

“My group will finance half of the sum needed to take over the club.”

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But his valuation is way below the £6bn United’s owners the Glazers want.

A spokesman for United fan and Ineos boss Ratcliffe said: “Sir Jim and Ineos can confirm we have submitted a revised bid.”

The bids from Sir Jim and Sheikh Jassim will smash the previous record for a sporting franchise of £3.8bn when the NFL’s Denver Broncos were sold last year.

Amid the uncertainty over ownership, shares on the New York Stock Exchange plunged in early trading, with United’s value dropping to £3.12bn.