Glazers out? – Takeover talk ramps up at Manchester United
Manchester United icon Gary Neville has claimed that the club’s owners may be “up to something” after ending talks with British businessman Jim Ratcliffe over the billionaire’s potential purchase of the Red Devils. The Glazer family has come in for criticism over the way they run the club from Neville, who also accused them of “negligence” for not refurbishing Old Trafford.
"I met Joel and Avram and they are the nicest people. They are proper gentlemen. If it had been for sale in the summer, yes, we would probably have had a go following on from the Chelsea thing. But we can't sit around hoping that one day Manchester United will become available."
The Glazers, who oversaw over £190m of spending during the transfer window, have been criticised for not refurbishing the club’s stadium and their home game with Liverpool in May was postponed due to an organised protest by fans against the owners.
Gary Neville has claimed Avram Glazer and his family may be "up to something". (Image: Sky Bet / GETTY)
Neville believes that United’s stadium requires refreshing, and that the owners’ reluctance to speak with Britain’s richest man could mean they have an alternative plan for the club. “United cannot continue to have a stadium like they have, when the rest of the stadiums in Europe and in the Premier League are improving on the scale that they are,” Neville told the Daily Mail. “It would just be absolute negligence to not get that stadium up to the level it needs.
“That is half a billion on a refurb, a billion plus on a new stadium. Then you've got the training ground investment. You see what Chelsea are spending, what Arsenal have spent this year, what [Manchester] City have got.
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"United need to spend big money every single year and what they spent in this summer was well above the budget that they wanted to spend - they said that on the investor call last week.
“And it leaves them perilously low on cash, with a loan that they have to continue to keep paying. The debt market isn't strong, the investment market is weak... so they are going to have to do something and they will be working on something.
"So I was a little bit frustrated that the conversation with Jim Ratcliffe wasn't extended but on the other hand they must be up to something.”