Manchester United Supporters Trust, or MOET, have urged the club’s leaders to ‘speed up’ their takeover process as the club continues to wait for an acceptable offer.
It was reported earlier this week that a third and final round of bidding on United will take place, with the best offers before the end of the month.
In the latest twist to the long-running saga, those still in the running — including Qatari resident Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani and British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe — have been told there are now two deadlines.
The first, due midway through next week, relates to due diligence. The second – April 28 – is for the final bids.
However, this has raised concerns with the fan group MUST, who have claimed that the process should end soon as the club is ‘urgently in need of new investment’.
Man United’s owners, the Glazer family, have invited potential bidders for a third round of bidding as they continue to oversee the sale of the club.
British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe (left) and Qatari Sheikh Jassim (right) are the two frontrunners in the process and have already submitted two bids to own the club
In a statement on their websiteMUST wrote: ‘When it was announced in November that the Glazers were undergoing a “strategic review” and inviting offers to buy the Club, MUST welcomed the news and urged the majority owners to move swiftly through the process. so that any period of uncertainty was as short as possible.
“Nearly five months later, we are reading speculation that offers from potential buyers remain below Glazers valuation and that a third round of bidding will now be invited.”
The decision to go to a final round, rather than enter a period of exclusivity with one group, suggests that the Glazers have not yet landed a price at which they would like to sell.
As it stands, things will need to move quickly before there’s a new owner for the upcoming transfer window – something that’s worrying the fan group.
“With Erik Ten Hag having made such great progress in his first season and with the vital summer transfer window only weeks away, reports of these delays and the ongoing uncertainty are of great concern,” they continued.
“Erik needs to know what resources he has to spend so that he can make the purchases the club needs, and all the club’s management resources must be focused on supporting him in doing so. That is not possible with the future ownership so unclear.’
“We are also unable to move forward with major investment projects – not least the redevelopment of the stadium, as we remain in limbo.
“We urgently need new investments, which will undoubtedly require new ownership. MUST, together with United fans around the world, is calling for this process to be completed without further delay.”
Supporter group statement highlights United in ‘urgent need of investment’
The sentiments shared by the supporters’ group were echoed by club legend Gary Neville, who on Wednesday took aim at the club chiefs in a series of tweets.
He wrote, “They make it up as they go along! Bad way to run a sales process. They have to leave at the end of May to give the new owner a chance to influence the next transfer window and get to work!’
Neville continued, “Taking it to a 3rd round of bidding is just classless. The market has clearly not given them the answer they want! It’s like they’ve made a pact with each other that they won’t go for less than £1 billion per family member. (5 of them). If they stay inside after all this, it will be poisonous!’
Reports in the US earlier on Tuesday claimed there are seven future ownership groups that have received feedback from Raine, although there is skepticism in some quarters about whether that is the case.
Club legend Gary Neville made similar complaints via a post on his social media account
The Glazers have have been a source of contention at Old Trafford since becoming majority shareholders in 2005, drawing considerable anger and backlash from fans.
Having taken over the club through a leveraged buyout that placed £525 million in loans on the United brand, they have increased the club’s debts to £536 million.
Overall, the Glazers have taken more than £1bn from United in the form of dividends, interest, costs and fees during their 18-year reign, which has been dominated by a decline in performance and success on the pitch.
When they announced the club was for sale in November, they invited bids for control and a stake in return for a cash injection, but reports so far are that a full takeover is more likely.