Last year Manchester United fans protested against the Glazer family outside Old Trafford and even managed to get the fixture against Liverpool postponed. Sparked by the Super League, the angry scenes were about far more, as anger over 16 years of silence and neglect came to the fore.
The Glazers were able to ride out the storm, determined not to relinquish control of their cash cow, which saw shareholders reap another £11 million in dividends earlier this year.
United fans still want to see the Glazer family gone, but without an active co-ordinated campaign against them, it is difficult to achieve.
One of the most frequent arguments put forward, has been concerns that a buyer simply is not out there. Barring a far from ideal Saudi investor coming in, or a pipedream like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, the myth has grown that there is nobody who could afford to buy Manchester United.
Chelsea scramble busting the Glazer myth
Roman Abramovich’s politically motivated decision to put Chelsea up for sale has led to a scramble to buy the club, proving there really are rich buyers out there.
The Mirror report Chelsea are worth £2.5 billion, while Forbes report United are worth an estimated £3.2 billion. With these figures not too far apart, it is reasonable to suggest there would be similar interest if United became available.
A report from The Guardian reports multiple interest in Chelsea from billionaire bidders.
British property tycoon Nick Candy is said to be fronting a bid, while Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss has already tabled an offer.
New York Jets owner Woody Johnson has been linked too, while Turkish businessman Muhsin Bayrak plans to hold talks with Roman Abramovich this week, and Sky Sports claim US billionaire Josh Harris is weighing up a bid.
There is also interest from Bernard Antwi Boasiako, a Ghanaian gold mine owner, The Sun report.
What this quite clearly proves, is that there are super-rich buyers out there. And with Manchester United a far richer name than Chelsea in global pulling power, and history, there would likely be even more interested parties coming out the woodwork.
Joel, Avram, do the right thing for once
The Glazers hopefully are paying attention to this. They could land a rich fee for selling United, if they chose to.
What they need is a push in the right direction. Shy of political intervention, it may require sustained fan protests to force them out.
The other option is they simply discover a conscience and decide to do the right thing, and sell up. The buyers are out there, don’t believe otherwise.
A better future for United is not impossible – although it does perpetually seem on hold while the Glazers still own the club.
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