The Glazers, owners of Manchester United FC. (Credit: Twitter)
The Glazers’ decision to pull out of the current market, which will anger United faithful even more, has to do with their hefty expected asking price: 10 billion euros.
It seems like the Red Devils’ fans will just have to bear with the Glazer misery for a little while longer as latest reports indicate that the Glazer family are ready to take Manchester United off the market after having failed to find any favorable bids for the club at the price they envisioned.
The Glazers are no strangers to backlash and hostility from the United faithful, and their thick skin will serve them well again now as the move is expected not to be received well by the supporters of the club who have stood against the family since their initial days of purchasing the club back in 2005.
🚨 The Glazer family will take Manchester United OFF the market.They’ll try to sell again in 2025, when they hope financial and ‘environmental’ factors may attract more bidders.
Source with long-standing close ties to the Glazer family: “The Glazers are thick-skinned and… pic.twitter.com/OTjsvca7QY
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) September 3, 2023
In fact, it was only last week when a sit-in protest was held by fans of the club at Old Trafford, urging the owners to sell the club, which has incurred extensive debt since the Glazers’ arrival, and leave.
The family had announced last November that they were open to offers for either the entire ownership of the club or a partial stake that would still keep them as partners. Since then, only two serious bidders emerged: Sheik Jassim of Qatar who wanted complete ownership, and Sir Jim Ratcliffe who wanted to leave the Glazers with a minority interest in the club. But, it seems like nothing came out of the negotiations.
At a certain point, Sheik Jassim’s offer was bypassed by American merchant bankers Raine, who were responsible of overseeing any sale of the club, and he tried to deal directly with the Glazers. And despite continued negotiations and rumors of a Qatari deal being done, nothing percolated as of yet, leaving the Glazers frustrated.
The Glazers’ decision to pull out of the current market, which will anger United faithful even more, has to do with their renewed hefty asking price: 10 billion euros.
It is believed that the uplift in TV rights revenues, the expansion of FIFA’s Club World Cup to 32 teams from 2025 and the forthcoming World Cup in 2026, which is set to be hosted in the USA, are reasons behind the Glazers’ hike in the asking price. They believe that all the reasons aforementioned will heighten the interest of various other American billionaires in football and will lead to more lucrative investments. So, as of now, the United faithful will have to bear a little longer with the despised family.
The Glazers will be expecting manager Erik ten Hag to aid them with bringing in major silverware in the upcoming seasons, not just for success and pride of the club, but also because it would help in boosting the selling price for the owners later on.
But for the faithful who grace the stands every matchday through thick and thin, Erik ten Hag holds the key that could put an end to the personal misery and drought that the storied franchise has been facing across the footballing landscape over the past decade.