The Glazers are “underwhelmed” by offers that have arrived for Manchester United recently.
That’s according to Ben Jacobs in his exclusive CaughtOffside column, who claims there is still no guarantee that the Glazers will be leaving Manchester United.
Manchester United fans must have been delighted when news broke that the Glazers were considering selling the club. United have fallen behind their rivals Manchester City for quite some time now, and the new investment could have been what they needed to gain ground on them.
A takeover certainly hasn’t been ruled out, but Jacobs has claimed it might not be as straightforward as it seems, and the Glazers may continue to be involved.
“There is still no guarantee the Glazers will leave Manchester United. The sale process, handled by New York merchant bank, Raine Group, is designed to explore all options. It’s not only for an outright purchase. The ‘s’ in Glazers remains very important because the family currently don’t have a unified stance. What’s clear is Avram and Joel are still attached to the club.
Kevin, Edward, Bryan and Darcie are prepared to depart and cash in on their stakes. A lot of attention has been drawn towards the two public outright bidders for Manchester United, Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, but there are private investors looking at minority stakes.
As exclusively reported on Monday, Sheikh Jassim sees his bid as “all or nothing” as one source close to his group put it. He won’t revert to minority investment if unsuccessful or even consider a ‘laddered’ route to full ownership. This would entail starting with a small stake with the option to increase it over time.
Ratcliffe, on the other hand, sees buying Manchester United as shaping his legacy. He wants visible and operational control. As a result, he is more open to partnering with either other groups or the Glazers, even if he doesn’t have majority or full control. He basically doesn’t want to walk away empty handed. His starting position is absolutely full ownership (termed “majority” in his statement solely because the Glazers don’t own 100% of the club), but he’s more flexible than Sheikh Jassim should things not go according to plan,” said Jacobs.
There’s still a chance that the Glazers remain involved, depending on which potential buyer manages to secure some investment in the club.
In an ideal world, taking into account the mass protests from Manchester United fans, you’d imagine they’d prefer the Glazers to be removed from the club completely.