Glazers committed to United

Stuart Mathieson

May 25, 2007

Bryan, Avi and Joel Glazer

MALCOLM Glazer has no intention of selling Manchester United.

For the second time in a fortnight, stories have surfaced suggesting the American billionaire is ready to offload the Old Trafford club after realising the profits to be made fall short of his lofty expectations.

After completing a controversial £800million buy-out two years ago, Glazer has already re-financed United's massive debts once and chief of staff Ed Woodward is believed to be working on another re-structuring, which would reduce annual interest payments from a startling £65million a year.

Yet the Glazer family refute in the strongest terms possible any suggestion they want to sell the new champions.

A spokesman for the Glazer family told M.E.N. Sport today: There is not a grain of truth in this story at all.

"The Glazer family have provided stability for Manchester United and are fully committed to the long term ownership.

"People need to realise that the family are not speculators. They are here for the long term. Manchester United is not for sale."

After rejecting a similar story on the eve of the last Premiership home game against West Ham earlier this month, the Glazers have been 'flabbergasted' to discover yet more speculation surfacing.

Benefit

At a time when United are about to benefit from a massively increased TV deal and knowing revenue from sponsorship and season-ticket sales - albeit through major price increases which have attracted huge criticism from fans' groups - is about to rise significantly, there would appear to be no sense behind any move by the Glazers to bail out now.

The Glazers' commitment to backing Sir Alex Ferguson in the transfer market is likely to be tested this summer as the United boss has identified three big-name targets who he believes will give the Red Devils the best chance of defending their Premiership crown and pushing on from their appearance in the Champions League semi-finals.

Owen Hargreaves' capture is set to be confirmed swiftly, possibly as early as today now chief executive David Gill has returned from his trouble-shooting mission in Malaysia.

What do you think? Have your say.

| Submit Comments | Comments (65) |

Showing comments 1 to 25 and replies | View All

Jonathan Chin, Truly Asia (25/05/2007 at 09:10)

i always wish more transfer fund available for SAF to use but when think about our debt... oh-no, better pay before we spend ( wisely ).

Reds4Ever, Entrance N410 (25/05/2007 at 09:12)

Good news or bad?

Robbo, North Stand (25/05/2007 at 09:12)

I think all the signs from Old Trafford are that Utd's finances are in dire straits - the price hikes, extension of the automatic cup scheme, the fact the European group games will ALL be debited in early September. They are DESPERATE for cash. Every sane financial analyst told Glazer this would happen but he ploughed ahead regardless. Utd was extremely well-run as a Plc, the increased revenues he imagined were simply never there. So now we're the mugs left bailing out the sinking ship of this disastrous takeover. Cheers Malc.

Birdy, Ireland (25/05/2007 at 09:15)

I find it sad everytime i read about the Glazers ownership. To say we drew the short straw would be an understatement. When you think that £65m goes out of the club to allow the Glazers to own it....the mind boggles.

What have they added to the club? They couldnt afford to buy, hence the debt, so the club is in effect paying them for the privilege of being owned by them. I dont see any difference than if I had bought the club. I couldnt afford it either but then that doesnt matter because if I bought it in the manner they did, Utd would be paying the loans I took out to buy it. Crazy stuff.

I dont actually care who owns the club, whether theyre American, British, wherever, all i would like is that the whoever owns it can afford it and is not draining vast sums from the club every yr to allow them to do so. So, if the stories of the Glazers selling up are true then great, because i dont envisage how we could possibly end up in a worse situation in terms of debt. Unless maybe if i did actually buy the club!

The Peerless Club (25/05/2007 at 09:18)

Is this the beginning of the end? I think so. £66million interest payments alone. Season Ticket holders being told they have to buy all cup game tickets. You're being ripped off big time and the Glazers will sell ASAP. Your days of domestic (not European) domination are over. 1 European final in 21 attempts Slur Fergie has managed. Pitiful and Pathetic are just two words that spring to mind. Rafa has been to the same amount of Champions League Finals than Jose/Fergie and Wenger together. All in the space of 3 years. Not bad for a Spanish waiter is it? FOR SALE: Castle Greyskull. The best Prawn Sarnies in town.

Macca, Cornwall (25/05/2007 at 09:27)

Some rumours today of berbatov £27m plus saha.This could be one of our highest spending summers in years.

chris, oxford (25/05/2007 at 09:30)

Sell to somebody who actually has some money and get out.

dboy, eire (25/05/2007 at 09:31)

If there's a God then the Glazers will exit OT asap.

I am starting a collection to buy UTD. Donations range from 200million upwards....

Reds4Ever, Entrance N410 (25/05/2007 at 09:50)

Should we all simply refuse to renew our season tickets?

Balders, Tier 2 Stretford (25/05/2007 at 09:56)

yes peerless & we've had one manager win the premiership nine times which is more than Wenger, Mourinho & all Liverpool's mangers of th past 15 years put together ..... SO YOUR POINT IS ???

Kevin, Tralee, Eire (25/05/2007 at 10:02)

Todays news is tomorrows chippie wrapper. I don't think the Glazers would be sanctioning a 17 million deal for OH & other rumoured deals if they were looking to get out.

Free Red, Manchester (25/05/2007 at 10:10)

Well they would deny it wouldn't they as they don't want to be seen as desperate to a potential investor. Sooner rather than later they will have to invest in the team. So far they have made a profit on selling players, but the player asset strip isn't sustainable. It's the worst kept secret in the City that the glazers are struggling to make United pay. I seem to remember the Irish duo saying something about how they were committed to being long term investors in United before they sold their 29% to the glazers. So what next, the great Chinese takeaway 2007!

Steve, Glossop (25/05/2007 at 10:27)

No smoke without fire on this one methinks. Agree with the others I despair how this shower slithered in. At least the Scousers have new owners who attempt to engraciate themselves.

manc abroad, OT (25/05/2007 at 10:30)

Take the money and run !!!!
Offer the club to the fans.
I believe they thought they could break up the TV deal and make similar money to Real Madrid, who make 100's of millions per year.

Hopefully they will go. After all not one penny of the money they promised to put into the transfer kitty has materialised.

Duncan, London (25/05/2007 at 10:35)

Birdy you may think that nothing could be worse than the Glazers but if they do sell then they have set a precedent for some other unscrupulous financier to repeat the process weakening us further. The problem is the spineless government and premiership ruling body don't give 2 hoots about English football as the funds are syphoned out to overseas concerns. You may say this has happened for decades but the figures involved are now so big that even a club as big as United could end up in receivership and at least our previous oeners were based in the UK so would feel the grievance personally. Foreign owners can just return to their country and sell on.

The Glazer sale should never have been allowed because of the huge debt involved that they have systematically loaded onto the club. It seems to me that the premiership has become a latter day goldrush.

dboy, eire (25/05/2007 at 10:50)

Birdy,

Lets talk business - Can you afford to buy? Joking aside...You made some good points.

george (25/05/2007 at 10:52)

In whose interest is it to put negative publicity about UNITED in the media?
Possibly other clubs competing to sign players before next season.

The Peerless Club (25/05/2007 at 11:01)

Mate you got lucky. You had a great team at the time of the CL boom, the days when only 2 teams could qualify. Now we're all getting a share and in 3 years under Rafa we're on your coat tails and have surpassed you in Europe again. You know as well as I do that we're gonna overtake you. Accept it. We are still Englands most successful club and we even give you 17 years to catch up, which you did, but are still 2 behind us. You know there won't be another Man Ure title for a very long, long time.

Andy Bergen, Bergen, Norway (25/05/2007 at 11:14)

I for one hope they sell. It would be wonderful if the fans this time had the opportunity to buy, I'd cancel my vacation and planned trip to OT next season to contribute. But any other owner than the Glazers would do for me. Haven't got the exact facts in front of me now, but let's take a quick recap of our spendings the last two seasons:
In: E v d Sar, T Kuszczak, N Vidic, P Evra, JS Park, M Carrick
Out: R v Nistelroy, JO Mikel (12 m net), T Howard, P Neville
I cannot see that this is anywhere close to the annual 25 m plus one big star they promised. And they've still got 76000 people at inflated prices and an improved tv-deal. Something doesn't add up!
I haven't bought any strips, DVD's or other merchandise since the takeover, and will not do so until the club is owned by the fans or an owner who proves that he, or she, does not regard it purely as a business. I'm saving my money, and waiting for the day the supporters are bidding for the club.

bobbydazzler (25/05/2007 at 11:18)

if we had to bought by an individual pity it was not someone who could actually afford us. whatever way you look at it the money leaving the club to service debt is far in excess of any dividends the club would pay to shareholders.

COLIN, CANADA, Canada (25/05/2007 at 11:30)

I thought that when the Glazers bought United, part of the plan would be to sell the Tampa Bay Bucs as the debt seemed staggering. It hasn't happened and even if it did, it would only dent the debt by less than 100 million. What is United worth now in comparison to when they bought. Not a huge profit I'm afraid and without the advantage of a balance sheet I can't comment on the 65 million in interest payments but the city boys would not be funding this debt unless the service ability was there to cover the debt. 65 million sounds high for interest costs at this level of borrowing. Sometime ego outweighs common business sense.

Gibo, SALFORD (25/05/2007 at 11:32)

With the massive debt the Glazers have plunged US into,There always gonna be looking to refinance and hike up ticket prices but this next season I'm being forced to join the cup sceme and buy tickets to games i cant get to! these cup tickets have in the past been bought by other REDS who can get to these games,I'm told i can sell the tickets back but will be charged for this service,I expect ticket prices to rise! but being forced into something that i cant do is the last straw!! no thanx GLAZERS i'll wait till you price us all out. before you know it you'll have empty seats every where you'll have to give em away! good luck with it all i hope you haven't underestimated your loyal customers!!

Mick, Dublin (25/05/2007 at 11:35)

Scousers are no better off, Steve, their takeover was also leveraged up to the hilt and LFC is now up to it's eye-balls in debt.

The only differences are their debt is slightly less because their club was valued at a much lower proce, that Gillet and Co have been much more aggresive in their PR campaign and the dippers have been much more gullible in lapping it all up.

I really do hope that someone who can actually afford the club does buy the Glazers out. But the problem is that they bought the club at such a high price I don't think anyone will pay what they're asking.

horace, Salford (25/05/2007 at 11:51)

Well lets see what happens then. I think that they (Glazers) may have bitten off more than they could chew. If they do sell then it would only be someone rich enough to pay off all debts because anybody else would come unstuck like the Glazers, (If its true they are selling). On the transfer front lets see what happens between now and august. That should give us some idea if they are struggling. If for example we only buy OH and 5 million on and up and coming then we might deduce they are struggling, However if the 50 million bandied about is spent on players, then it looks like it may all be pie in the sky, and they are not struggling.

red devil, Salford (25/05/2007 at 11:59)

I assume we are struggling for news.What a non story. I believe they are in it for the long haul. These people who have been taken over by foreign investors are different to United. We are a club that generates profit! Still how can you possibly make money when the majority of your "supporters" who are nothing more than bin dippers who will be looking to get in for nothing.

()

Report

Manchester United