Man Utd join Liverpool in being put up for sale

FT Desk

• 8 Nov 2022 21:55 GMT
• 3 min read

The Glazer family are reportedly set to follow fellow American owners the FSG Group in putting an English footballing institution up for sale.

Liverpool announced on Monday that they would be "inviting bids", with 12 years of Fenway Sports Group ownership set to come to an end in the coming months. And now Manchester United looks set to follow suit.

The club's owners, the Glazer family, have had majority control of the Red Devils since 2005, but their take-over has been met with a hostile reception from large sections of the support ever since.

READ: 'Bellingham and Mbappe coming!' - Liverpool fans react as FSG put club up for sale

The record English champions have been saddled with huge debt payments which haven't seemed to negatively impact transfer spending, although Old Trafford and the club's training facilities have slipped into a state of disrepair.

With Liverpool valued at £3.93bn (€4.5bn), the Glazers' ears have apparently pricked up, with a significant profit on their earlier £684.28bn (€784.17m) takeover seen as far preferable to the outlay required to bring United's facilities up to scratch.

US interest

"Every penny will always be scrutinised and chastised due to their public nature," British agent Haydn Dodge told CaughtOffside. "Old Trafford needs a revamp as well, so that's a big problem, and the owners know they're continually under the microscope.

READ: Why Gary Neville is urging Glazers to sell Man Utd

"There are talks taking place to sell the club with investment companies in the United States, but, as usual, everyone involved has been forced to sign non-disclosure agreements."

Elon Musk, the world's richest man who recently bought Twitter for $44bn (€43.68bn), and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Britain's wealthiest who owns French outfit Nice, have both been linked with takeover bid for United in recent months, although the latter previously said they weren't for sale.

"It's owned by the six children of the father, and they don't want to sell," Ratcliffe said at a Financial Times Live conference. "I met Joel and Avram, and they're the nicest people. They are proper gentlemen. If it had been for sale in the summer, yes, we would probably have had a go."