San Francisco, Aug 17 (IANS): Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday announced on Twitter that he is buying British football club Manchester United.

Musk, however, did not disclose the sum he is paying for acquiring the legendary football team.

The club has a latest market cap of nearly $2.08 billion.

"I'm buying Manchester United ur welcome," Musk posted in a tweet.

However, it was not immediately clear if Musk was just having fun or was serious about the acquisition.

The American Glazer family owns the club, who purchased it for around 790 million pounds in 2005.

The announcement came as he was engaged in a political tweet thread.

"To be clear, I support the left half of the Republican Party and the right half of the Democratic Party!" he posted, before the US midterm elections in November.

Musk supporters have asked him to buy Manchester United rather than Twitter in the past.

Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United, or simply United, is based in the Old Trafford area of Greater Manchester, England.

The club competes in the Premier League, the top division in the English football league system.

Nicknamed the Red Devils, it was founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, but changed its name to Manchester United in 1902. The club moved from Newton Heath to its current stadium, Old Trafford, in 1910.

Manchester United have won a record 20 League titles, 12 FA Cups, five League Cups and a record 21 FA Community Shields.

It is one of the most widely supported football clubs in the world and has rivalries with Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Leeds United.