Manchester United not for sale!
It seems that one of the most memorable campaigns by fans to own their dreams might just be over. The Red Knights have started a very popular movement to take ownership of Manchester United from the Glazer family in a bid to hand it over to the actual fans of the club. However it seems that they have realized it’s time to abort their plans.
The group started with a few people who managed to bring a number of rich families that in essence, were big United fans in order to overthrow the Glazer family. But recent information has shown that despite these tall claims, the Glazer family has no intentions of selling the club. There are rumours that the American group has declined to accept large bids at the start of their campaign.
The knowledge apparently suggests that the Glazer family was never serious in selling the club. There are reports that the Glazer family refused a 1.5 billion pounds offer from a Far East association at start of this year. The clubs’ actual price is estimated to be around 1 billion pounds - an amount that the Red Knights had in their bank accounts and were claiming to bid for more.
An official statement came from a spokesperson for the Red Knights association in this regards. He said, “The Red Knights remain committed to pursuing their efforts to try and help bring ownership of Manchester United to its supporters, and under a structure with materially less debt.” That is true. Despite the throwing of bricks all around the pitch at each other, both the factions within the club were committed on dealing with each other in an as official manner as they could muster.
The representative further said, “As we have maintained however since news of our ambitions first emerged in March, we will only attempt to purchase the club at a sensible price, consistent with the long-term interests of the club.”
The official further pressed on saying that the media coverage has in fact been a negative aspect for them as the price for the club increased and the coverage has placed them to the far. He said, “Persistent speculation in the media of inflated valuation aspirations has made our goals less attainable, as potential investors have strongly reinforced our views that we should not move forward at a price uneconomic for the future of the club.”
The Red Knights earlier put on a bid of one billion pounds. They have assessed the amount as a reasonable price for the club, given the heavy debts that United is in along with the current market situation.
The Glazer family on the other hand is adamant on its perspective and seemingly won’t even consider the offer. The Red Knights are now planning their next move to thwart the owners who have placed one of the world’s richest clubs into debts of over 500 million pounds.
In a last attempt, the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) is expected to impose sanctions on the season tickets and other club merchandise to exert more pressure on the revenues. By doing this, the fans will hit two birds with one stone. This will be a time when the players of the club itself will start to protest against the owners wanting an end to this scenario.
The Red Knights have stated, “We understand that many supporters were hoping that we might be in a position to make a bid before the season ticket renewal deadline. However, our approach is best served by long-term interests of all. We have never taken a stance on season ticket renewals; it is a personal choice for all supporters.”
Further explaining their stance the group said, “We have spent some considerable time assessing the value of the club. If the fundamentals lead to a more realistic re-assessment then, along with our co-operation with MUST and other Manchester United supporters, we will aim to achieve our goals”.
One thing is for certain, the players and the owners cannot survive on their own. A consolidated effort by Manchester Untied fans is likely to overthrow a dictatorial regime at the top of the club.
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