Elon Musk - the richest man in the world - is buying Manchester United.

At least that's what he claimed on Twitter on Tuesday night.

He tweeted: "Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome," sending fans of the Red Devils crazy.

According to the 2022 Forbes list, Musk is currently worth a crazy $270 billion having cofounded six companies including electric car maker Tesla, rocket producer SpaceX and tunnelling startup Boring Company.

But is he really interested in buying Man Utd?

The deal would cost him around $2 billion - a figure he would comfortably afford.

However, Musk is known for making 'promises' on social media.

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He's previously promised to buy Twitter for $44bn before the deal collapsed in July, and has also boasted about colonising Mars and boosting birthrates on Earth.

And the excitement of United fans was quickly dampened.

When Musk was asked if he was being serious, he replied: "No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I’m not buying any sports teams."

Oh.

However, he did say that if he were to buy any club in the world it would be United.

United supporters are desperate for current owners, the Glazers, to leave the club after years of failure and mismanagement.

To sum up the Glazer's ownership, a shocking thread explained how they've taken money out of the club during their reign.

They wouldn't have to worry too much about that if Musk was in charge of the club.

Man Utd's nightmare start to 2022/23

On the pitch, United have got off to a nightmare start to the 2022/23 campaign.

Under new manager Erik ten Hag, they lost at home to Brighton on the opening weekend of the season before being thrashed 4-0 by Brentford last weekend.

And the Dutch boss admits they're working hard to fix the disappointing start they've had.

“We are, as a team, in a difficult process,” Ten Hag admitted to Sky Sports.

“We expected a different start. It seems like what happened in the past, last season, we have to change that very quickly. 

“We need new players, we need quality players and we will do everything to convince them to come.”