Manchester, England, August 17/2010 English billionaire Jim Ratcliffe’s desire to buy Manchester United has raised the hopes of the club’s fans and paved the way for their American owners, the Glazer family, to sell the club and return to glory. On the field.

This depends on three key factors: how much you think the club is worth; that there are buyers willing to pay that price; And finally, if the much-criticized Glazer is willing to take the money and leave.

So far there has been no indication from the publicity-shy Glazers whether the club is ready for sale or willing to go along with the offer.

However, there are reports that they are interested in selling some of their shares to a minority investor.

But fans will be hoping for a more radical change from their new junior partner, who are set to protest against the Glazers again in Monday’s Premier League clash with arch-rivals Liverpool.

Having failed to win a trophy since Alex Ferguson stepped down as manager in 2013 and have recently lost any sense of direction, finishing sixth last season and losing their opening two games, there have been renewed calls for a change of ownership.

After the opening day defeat at home to Brighton, former captain Gary Neville told the Sky Sports influencer: “The time has come for the Glazer family to sell the football club, the time has come, it is now.”

Following Saturday’s 4-0 humiliation at Brentford, the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (MUST) released a statement: “We have the club’s owners to blame for this new low in a decade.”

In May, United reported a loss of 27.7 million pounds ($34.9 million) for the three months to March 31, compared with a loss of 18.1 million pounds a year earlier – numbers hurt by the Covid restrictions.

The club’s shares have underperformed their European-listed competitors, losing more than a third of their value since 2018. Shares in Borussia Dortmund fell 27%, while AFC Ajax jumped 27%.

Ratcliffe’s expression of interest followed Elon Musk’s tweet about potential buyers for the club.

The recent sale of Chelsea has shown that there is no shortage of wealth and interest in owning a top-flight club after sanctions were imposed on Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

A consortium led by LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Bohly and backed by Clearlake Capital won the bid to buy the London club, paying £2.5 billion and committing to spend a further £1.7 billion over the next decade.

Price tags

If the Glazers were to sell, what would the asking price be?

The Americans bought the club in 2005 for £790m in a highly leveraged deal that has been criticized for piling debt on the club. United has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since 2012.

The club is above Chelsea on most clubs’ price scale. Forbes ranks United at $4.6 billion in the UK and third in the world behind Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Analysts say that United’s ranking does not reflect their performance on the field or their revenue levels in recent years, but their global following makes them a true global brand.

“The key for Manchester United is the impact of their digital footprint,” says Rob Wilson, a football finance expert at Sheffield Hallam University.

“It undermines all Premier League teams and supports commercial income. Crucially, this income is not all ‘owner-sponsored’ but ‘earned’. That makes United very valuable from a corporate perspective.”

“My personal view is that the scarcity of the property (MUFC does not sell often) means that the price will be much higher than traditional prices. I expect about $6 billion. If more than one bidder appears, don’t be. I was surprised to see more than $8 billion.

On top of that, future owners will have to spend a lot more to revive United in English and European football.

The team needs an upgrade, which means investing in player recruitment, and the Glazers have been looking at upgrading or rebuilding their Old Trafford stadium.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the new construction in the Premier League, cost the London club £1 billion.

It will take very deep pockets to convince the Glazers to sell – and even deeper ones to return United to their dominant position in the 1990s.

Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Hugh Lawson

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