LONDON: Elon Musk said in a  tweet on Tuesday evening that he is acquiring the Manchester United football club, although it was not clear if the eccentric billionaire, currently embroiled in a lawsuit over his bid to buy Twitter, was being serious.

The 51-year-old CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who enjoys making provocative comments on social media, replied to a previous tweet about supporting both of America's major political parties with: "Also, I'm buying Manchester United ur welcome."

Manchester United, a storied English football club, is at present led by the 6 children of late American entrepreneur  Malcolm Glazer, who took a controlling stake in the franchise in 2005. The club's owners and management did not respond to Musk's post right away.

Shares of the club traded on the New York Stock Exchange finished Tuesday unchanged and had a market value of $2.1 billion.  The Glazer family also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, an NFL franchise in Florida.
Fans of Manchester United have opposed the organization's administration for the team's recent underwhelming results as well as their participation in a scheme to establish a new "Super League" of Europe's wealthiest teams.Despite a shaky start to the current campaign, the Red Devils finished sixth in the English Premier League last year.

Manchester United is currently last in the standings after suffering two straight defeats, including a shocking 0-4 setback last weekend against Brentford. This is the first time they have finished last on the list in thirty years.
Before United's upcoming match at home against Liverpool on August 22, more demonstrations against the Glazer family's ownership of the team are expected.

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