Manchester United’s Glazer family owners are facing a new backlash as they are reportedly set to pocket around £650million when they sell their B shares to Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The Red Devils have been up for sale for a year, with Ratcliffe closing in on a deal to purchase a 25 per cent in the club in exchange for £1.3billion.
The Glazer family have owned United since 2005 but have become hugely unpopular among a vast amount of the club’s supporters, with a string of protests being held at Old Trafford in opposition to the Americans’ ownership.
The family even decided to stay away from Sir Bobby Charlton’s funeral on Monday as they reportedly didn’t want to detract from the event. And their upcoming windfall is unlikely to be well-received by the frustrated fans who spend their hard-earned cash following the 13-time Premier League champions.
According to The Telegraph, half of Ratcliffe’s £1.3bn will be handed to the Glazers, while the other half will go to non-Glazer shareholders. The B shares have 10 times the voting rights of the A shares, with Ratcliffe deciding to buy an equal proportion of each to avoid any risk of litigation from shareholders who may have felt short-changed.
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United fan group The 1958, who have been behind many of the protests against the Glazers, released a statement ahead of Charlton’s funeral saying it was “no real surprise that no one from the Glazer family appears to have bothered paying their respects at the funeral of arguably our greatest ever player.”
And they added: “The Glazers have proved time and again they are alienated from the football club and fan base and this is just another shameful example. It is our opinion that they simply view Manchester United as a cash cow. They are not fit to be owners of the world’s greatest football club, steeped in history and tradition.”
On top of the £1.3bn, Ratcliffe is set to commit around £250million of investment to spend on the club’s infrastructure. That amount wouldn’t cover the cost of a new or expanded stadium but would at least help the Red Devils initiate infrastructure projects.
The 71-year-old INEOS owner is set to take over the football operations when he completes his 25 per cent purchase and will be looking to get the team moving in the right direction on the pitch. Erik ten Hag’s side have lost five of their first 12 Premier League matches this season and have only won one of their opening four Champions League encounters.
