Elon Musk tweeted Tuesday evening that he is purchasing the Manchester United football club. However, much to the fans’ annoyance, the eccentric billionaire, currently embroiled in a lawsuit over his bid to buy Twitter, said he was only joking.Tesla billionaire electrified the debate about the future of the Old Trafford club with his intriguing claim before saying that the post was part of a “long-running joke”. The current state of the Red Devils probably requires a genius, a mad scientist with a master plan or someone willing to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into the organization. Elon is perhaps a mix of those three – but he’s not going to be United’s saviour – even though he admitted to being the club’s supporter since he was a boy.Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2022 With the team rooted to the bottom of the league after a humiliating 4-0 away defeat to Brentford, the outspoken entrepreneur’s tweet offered hope to fans who want to see the back of current owners, the Florida-based Glazer family.The 51-year-old Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who has a habit of posting provocative statements on social media for fun, said: “Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome,” in reply to an earlier tweet about supporting both of America’s two major political parties.All-African Team of the Week in Top 5 LeaguesManchester United is currently led by the six children of late American businessman Malcolm Glazer, who took a controlling stake in the franchise in 2005. Shares of the team listed on the New York Stock Exchange are down year to date but ended Tuesday flat, with a market capitalization of $2.1 billion.Many were quick to point out that Musk had also promised to buy Twitter for $44bn before the deal collapsed in July and boasted about colonizing Mars and boosting birthrates on Earth – but many of them probably started fantasising about Mr Musk coming in and spending a billion on new players. Maybe some other time, guys.No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I’m not buying any sports teams.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2022 Manchester United fans have protested the team’s management for poor performance in recent years and their involvement in a plan to start a new “Super League” of Europe’s richest teams. More protests against the Glazer family’s club ownership are planned ahead of United’s next game at home to Liverpool on August 22.As for Elon Musk, the wealthiest man in the world recently sold nearly $7 billion worth of Tesla shares and is in a major legal battle in the US state of Delaware over his aborted plan to buy Twitter.As things stand, colonizing Mars is looking like an easier job than correcting everything that’s wrong at Manchester United.