Elon Musk reveals plans to buy Manchester United part of 'a long-running joke' on Twitter

Billionaire tech entrepreneur set United supporters' hearts racing on Tuesday when he flagged the purchase of the troubled Premier League club in a thread joking about his political allegiances

Tesla chief Elon Musk and his children Damian, Kai, Saxon and Griffin meet Pope Francis in July at the Vatican. AFP

Mr Musk speaks by video in June to the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha. Bloomberg

Mr Musk answers questions at the Qatar Economic Forum. Bloomberg

Mr Musk arrives at the Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in May. Reuters

Mr Musk and his mother Maye Musk arrive at the Met Gala in May. AFP

The Musks pose and laugh on the Met Gala red carpet. EPA

Mr Musk waves at the Met Gala. Reuters

Mr Musk joins in online at the 'Financial Times' Future of the Car Summit in May. Financial Times

Mr Musk attends the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, in March. Reuters

Mr Musk at the Tesla factory in Berlin, Germany, in March. AP

Mr Musk speaks at SpaceX's Starbase centre in South Texas in February. AFP

The entrepreneur shakes hands with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in Porto Feliz, Brazil, in May. AP

Mr Bolsonaro and Mr Musk greet each other in Sao Paulo. Reuters

Indonesian President Joko Widodo meets Mr Musk at the SpaceX launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, in May. Reuters

Mr Musk shows Mr Widodo his mobile phone during a tour of the SpaceX launch site in Texas. Reuters

Elon Musk says his announcement that he planned to buy Manchester United was part of a "long-running joke" on Twitter and that he had no plans to purchase any sports teams.

Musk set United supporters' hearts racing on Tuesday when he flagged the purchase of the troubled Premier League club in a thread joking about his political allegiances.

The billionaire tech entrepreneur joked that he supported "the left half of the Republican Party and the right half of the Democratic Party!" in a tweet before adding, “Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome.”

The post quickly garnered a lot of attention, receiving almost 54,000 retweets and more than 300,000 likes within a couple of hours.

But the Tesla founder followed it with an update on Wednesday in response to a question over whether he was serious about buying the club, saying: "No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I’m not buying any sports teams."

Manchester United are one of the world's best supported football clubs and one of the biggest brands in all sports. They have been champions of England a record 20 times and have won the European Cup, the most prestigious club competition in the global game, three times.

The club is controlled by the Glazer family in the US though they are unpopular among the fanbase due to a perceived lack of ambition to bring in top players.

United finished sixth in the English Premier League last season, missing out on the lucrative Champions League, and have had a disastrous start to the new campaign, losing 2-1 at home to Brighton before being thumped 4-0 away to Brentford on Saturday, leaving them bottom of the 20-team Premier League.

British newspaper The Daily Mirror reported last year that the Glazers were prepared to sell the club but only if they were offered in excess of £4bn.

The football club had a market capitalisation of $2.08bn, as of Tuesday's stock market close.

It comes amid Musk's lawsuit with Twitter, triggered when he backed out of a $44 billion deal to buy the social media platform.

Last week it was revealed that Musk had sold nearly $7bn of shares in Tesla ahead of the legal battle, which is scheduled for October.

Brentford v Man United ratings

BRENTFORD RATINGS: David Raya - 7. The Spaniard did not have much to deal during his side's first-half rampage. Manchester United offered a bit more in the second half but nothing which really tested Raya. Getty

Rico Henry - 7. Was able to limit Jadon Sancho to an ineffective performance and caused problems going forward down the left flank. AP

Mads Roerslev - 8. A solid day at the office for Roerslev, who didn’t put a foot wrong all game. AFP

Ben Mee - 8. Comfortable afternoon defensively on his home debut and kept the opponents' front three at bay. His performance was topped off with a goal at point blank range as his side made use of their physical advantage at set pieces. AFP

Pontus Jansson – 8. It was an impressive performance all round for the Swede. He dealt with everything that came his way defensively, keeping Cristiano Ronaldo quiet all game. Up the other end of the pitch, the defender used his height to be a constant nuisance in set pieces. Getty

Aaron Hickey – 7. The Scotsman did not find Marcus Rashford’s pace an issue and was defensively sound. Like his teammate on the opposite flank, Hickey also caused problems going forward. AP

Mathias Jensen - 10. A ruthless performance from the Dane, his constant pressing led to his sides first two goals, scoring the latter himself after stealing the ball off Christian Eriksen. He also caused numerous problems for the United defence with his set piece deliveries. AFP

Christian Norgaard – 7. Perhaps not in the limelight as much as his two other teammates in the midfield, however had a composed performance sitting the deepest out of the three. Did well to keep creativity from Utd’s midfield at a minimum, one of which being former teammate Eriksen. Getty

Josh Dasilva – 8. He followed on from netting his sides equaliser last week as he opened the scoring after David De Gea spilled the midfielder's shot on goal. An energetic performance and frustrated the opposition. Reuters

Bryan Mbeumo – 9. A hardworking performance which was rewarded with a classy touch and finish to make it 4-0 and put the fixture to bed in the first half. His work running down the channels and constant pressing played a key part in his side’s dominance. Reuters

Ivan Toney – 9. Despite not getting on the scoresheet, Toney did not disappoint. He caused constant problems for the United defence, making the most of the mis-match handed to him with Lisandro Martinez. Also, a fantastic assist for Brentford’s fourth. Getty

SUBS: Vitaly Janelt (Dasilva 62') – 6. Slotted in nicely in what was an uneventful second half. Yoane Wissa (Mbeumo 73') - N/A. Did well but Brentford were already cruising. Getty

Shandon Baptiste - (Jensen 74') - N/A. Did well to pick up from where the Dane had left off. PA

Frank Onyeka (Norgaard 80') – N/A. Picked up a knock while on and didn’t make much of an impact. Mads Bech Sorensen (Hickey 80') - N/A. Getty

MANCHESTER UNITED RATINGS: David de Gea - 1. Not kept a clean sheet since before Christmas away from home and spilled a soft shot after nine minutes for Brentford to take the lead. Shambles of a second goal. Confidence on the floor and it starts at the back. Made better saves in the second half and fronted up to take blame for the defeat. AP

Luke Shaw - 1. Good one-two in an early foray forward. And that was about it. Brentford had similar tactics to Brighton, dominating in the centre knowing United would be forced wide or even struggle to retain possession. Off at half time. He was fortunate to last that long. AFP

Harry Maguire - 1. Booked after 15 in a first 30 minutes when he was under constant pressure. He’s the captain of a team who were all over the place, a team who were a disgrace to the name Manchester United. Reuters

Lisandro Martinez - 1. Up against the far bigger Ivan Toney and Brentford were right onto him. No chance against Mee for the third as Brentford exploited United on set plays. Horrendous half of football. Reuters

Diogo Dalot - 1. Had United’s first shot on target, which was cheered ironically by Brentford fans. The timing between United’s full-backs and the wide men in relation to who attacks where was awful and he was targeted by better Brentford players. AP

Fred - 1. Played as the only defensive midfielder in a 4-3-3 formation, but the game passed him by. United were so easy to read. And exploit. Awful week for a player who had a good pre-season. Reuters

Christian Eriksen - 1. Caught in possession after 15 in a move which led to Maguire’s booking. Shambles. Volleyed wide after 80 as United had their best spell of the game. Booed by some of the home fans – who he’d served so well last season but turned down to join United. Reuters

Bruno Fernandes - 1. Skied a shot over after 10, just as he’d done early on against Brighton last week. At the very least he has to hit the target, not send the ball towards Canary Wharf. He’s supposed to be a leader and United need their top men to stand up. Reuters

Jadon Sancho - 1. Did he play? Zero pressure in the final third against a Brentford side who didn’t have a full team out. The tactical instructions came from Erik Ten Hag and he got it all wrong once again, but the 4-0 defeat was on the players too. AFP

Cristiano Ronaldo - 2. Caught in possession before the opening goal – though he claimed a foul. Headed over after 52 and had a couple of chances. Fuming. Aren’t all United fans? PA

Marcus Rashford - 1. Beautiful early turn to play in Ronaldo when the score was 0-0. And that was about it until he crossed for Eriksen after 66. Genuine surprise from United fans that PSG are interested in him. Getty

SUBS: Tyrell Malacia (Shaw, HT) - 5. Showed a bit of steel. Shame that his first games in England are in such trying circumstances. Deserves to start over Shaw. PA

Raphael Varane (Martinez, HT) - 5. He’s one of the best defenders in the world. Needs to show it for this United side who are going to be eaten alive in the Premier League if this continues. Getty

Scott McTominay (Fred, HT) - 5. Dropped for this game to make way for Ronaldo. One of the better players in the second half. Booked. Getty

Anthony Elanga (Sancho 60') - 3. Made as much difference as Sancho. Donny van de Beek (Eriksen 86') N/A. Getty