Manchester United staff were convinced Sheikh Jassim would be buying the club as late as last week.
It was announced over the weekend that the Qatari had pulled out of the running, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe moving to buy a 25 per cent stake.
The Sun says United staff have long been preparing for Sheikh Jassim's takeover and had even been told not to book any annual leave for this month to help see the process through.
Sheikh Jassim's team had visited with technical director John Murtough to get an oversee of the club's football department.
But it all collapsed as Joel Glazer was reluctant to sell up.
The Qatari's team, like second bidder Sir Jim Ratcliffe, were said to have been impressed and neither were looking to radically shake things up.