No more jokes, make it happen! - Elon Musk urged to buy Man Utd

SA-born entrepreneur Elon Musk has been urged to buy English football giants Manchester United, after the club's owners said they would be open to selling the club.

The club announced on Tuesday evening that they are looking at “all strategic alternatives, including new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions involving the company”.

“This will include an assessment of several initiatives to strengthen the club, including stadium and infrastructure redevelopment, and expansion of the club’s commercial operations on a global scale, each in the context of enhancing the long-term success of the club’s men’s, women’s and academy teams, and bringing benefits to fans and other stakeholders,” it said.

But buying the club won't be cheap.

According to Daily Mail, the club's owners, the Glazer family, are looking for more than £5bn (R102bn) and as much as £9bn (R184bn)

Musk is the richest man in the world, with Bloomberg estimating his fortune at $169.8bn (R2.9tn), and recently bought social media network Twitter for $44bn (R758bn).

And he has joked about buying Manchester United before.

In August he had Twitter in meltdown mode when he finished a thought on US politics by telling his followers he has his eye on the English football club.

“Also, I'm buying Manchester United. You're welcome.”

Musk later claimed it was a “long-running joke on Twitter”, but hinted that the door was not completely closed.

“I’m not buying any sports teams. Though, if it were any team, it would be Manchester United. They were my favourite team as a kid.”

Social media users responded to United's latest statement by calling on Musk to leave the jokes to the comedians and get a deal done.