Questions over state-ownership for Manchester United, fans worried about Glazers family

The ownership bids for the English Premier League’s one of most successful football clubs, Manchester United have been raised by Sheikh Jassim Bin, Hamad Al Thani, and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS group on Friday, but it was asserted on Saturday that US hedge fund Elliott Management has also given their name for the ownership.

Neville claims that the focus for United supporters is that the American family totally leaves the club at the conclusion of the process, despite the Glazer family pursuing a full or partial sale or collaboration with third parties.

“I think what scares Man Utd fans most is the feeling this Man Utd ownership is running this process to drive a massive price up to try to somehow establish a level which means two of them can stay in and the rest of the family that want out can be bought out by an American fund who wouldn’t mind owning a minority or significant share but not the entirety of the share,” asserted Gary Neville in his podcast The Gary Neville Podcast.

There’s a feeling they want ownership that can compete with the Middle East estates: Gary Neville

“They’ve run out of money, they’ve not invested in the stadium… the fans want a new stadium, whether that’s Old Trafford refurbished or a new one rebuilt, we need new facilities. Man Utd’s stadium is behind a lot of the big [clubs] in Europe,” added Neville.

Neville said that “the horse has already bolted” the problems of state ownership of Premier League football clubs, with Abu Dhabi’s investment at Manchester City and finace from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund to Newcastle United.

“The horse has bolted in that respect, when Abu Dhabi came into Man City 15 years ago and Saudi Arabia came into Newcastle two years ago. There’s a feeling they want an ownership that can compete with the Middle East estates we have in this league, which is Saudi Arabia at Newcastle and Abu Dhabi at Man City,”  he concluded.