Almost a year on after the Glazers decided to suddenly open up Manchester United to outside investors, British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe looks set to buy a 25 percent minority stake in the Premier League club.
The alleged £1.3 billion ($1.6 billion) is expected to be ratified at a United board meeting on Thursday. However, the scenario is hardly a rosy one to justify sipping the bubbly for fans as the uncompromising fact that the Glazer family will remain in control of the club is still a hard reality slap in the face for most fans, who were hoping anxiously to see the back of the unpopular Americans.
“It would be wildly optimistic to think the Glazers are acting in the interests of supporters or are making ownership decisions which don’t centre on their own priorities,” the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) said in a statement this week.
United’s fortunes have undergone vicissitudes of a great amplitude on and off the field since the Glazers took over at Old Trafford in a leveraged takeover in 2005 for £790 million. The club was kept buoyed at the top of the English and European game during the early years of the Glazer reign by Sir Alex Ferguson.
However, United have not won the Premier League since the legendary Scotsman retired in 2013 and the club last hoisted aloft the Champions League back in 2008.
This season’s lamentable start has left Erik ten Hag’s men sitting 10th in the Premier League and already risking an embarrassing early Champions League exit after losing their opening two group games for the first time.
Ratcliffe, founder of petrochemicals giant INEOS and Britain’s wealthiest tycoon, is reportedly seeking to take control of the club’s football operations in return for his sizeable investment despite it being a 25% minority stake.
The pertinent question arising now is how could a minority owner realistically have a relevant say that would positively impact and control the core operation of a football club.
“How does a minority shareholder stop cultural decline across a whole organisation if the people who have overseen this decline still have a majority shareholding?” Gary Neville, a former United captain turned pundit and businessman, asked on social media.
Figures from March showed the club’s debt has spiralled to £970 million and it is unclear where the proceeds from Ratcliffe’s investment will go.