LONDON – Former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville said the club’s fans are worried that owners, the Glazer family, could retain control of the club despite inviting bids to buy the English Premier League side.
Jassim bin Hamad bin Jaber Al Thani, the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank and son of the country’s former prime minister as well as British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, founder of chemicals company Ineos, submitted rival bids for the 20-time English champions by last Friday’s “soft deadline”.
United States hedge fund Elliott Investment Management has ruled itself out of a full takeover, but is planning to offer financing – either to the Glazers if they opt to keep the club or to Ratcliffe.
Neville told Sky Sports: “What scares United fans most is the feeling this United ownership are 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...
“The whole emphasis from United fans is this has to be the end of the Glazer ownership.”
Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan warned Red Devils supporters to “be careful of what you wish for”.
He said on talkSport: “You are not going to get it back anytime soon when people come in and buy it for £5 billion (S$8 billion) or £6 billion. That’s their football club, you’re a customer.”
However, Ratcliffe, 70, has sought to assuage such fears in an interview with the Times on Saturday, when he said he does not “take risks unnecessarily”.
The lifelong United fan, who spent a reported €110 million (S$157 million) to buy French Ligue 1 side Nice, said: “I won’t and would never jump out of a plane, because you either live or die depending upon how well someone’s packed your parachute.
He added: “I’m quite careful, but you’re only here once, so you get more out of life if you challenge yourself a bit more.”
Ratcliffe, who was born in Greater Manchester, was blunt in an interview with The Times in 2019 when outlining the reasons why he would not have bought United outright at that time, even if it was up for sale.
He said: “(Ineos) never wants to be the dumb money in town, never. They (United) are in quite a big pickle as a business. They haven’t got the manager selection right, haven’t bought well. They have been the dumb money, which you see with players like Fred.”
The Qataris insist their bid “will be completely debt free”, but there have been accusations of sportswashing by human rights groups while the Manchester United Supporters Trust said any new owner must commit to continuing the club’s progress on the field and respect the rights of LGBTQ+ fans.
There has also been heavy criticism of state-owned clubs like the Saudi Arabia-controlled Newcastle United, with the United Arab Emirates-owned Manchester City under investigation for financial irregularities.
But Neville said: “We can talk about state ownership at United but we have already got two state-funded clubs in Newcastle and City. They’ve been allowed to come in already, so I find it difficult to say United shouldn’t on the other hand have a Qatari ownership. The horse has bolted in that respect.” AFP, BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
