Quarterly Quarrel - The Financial Discussion Part 5

TeamViewer says it does not intend to renew shirt sponsorship deal currently worth £47million a year to Manchester United #mufc https://t.co/EiYykECdOU

— Man United News (@ManUtdMEN) August 4, 2022

 

Can Manchester United ever get back to their best under their current ownership? 🤔🔴 #MUFC pic.twitter.com/yN5M4DtaU4

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 8, 2022

 

#mufc’s share price saw it's biggest daily rise in nine years as Michael Knighton announced a takeover bid. [Alex Cole, The Sun]

— The United Stand (@UnitedStandMUFC) August 11, 2022

 

Putting here because was mostly about ownership and management. Kinda funny confrontation too

 

Formal bid is not ready, but there is a consortium that is 100% British, backed by 3 billionaires. Money is needed to fix stadium and team, so they still need investors beyond simply meeting a plausible price.

 

It looks real to me. I think if Sir Jim Ratcliffe jumps on board, they can make a real offer and if things are as bad on the pitch as they were against Brentford, and fans really make an effort to protest, something could give.

BTW, at around the 8:20 minute mark, he gets into more details of Knighton's attempt to buy United in '89, how it was legitimate, and how was not reliant on the businessmen he partnered. Robert Maxwell lead the effort to discredit him.

The book he mentions is Visionary by Phillip Vine. The Guardian has an article on the book that gets into a few other details: https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ton-manchester-united-keepie-uppies-interview

 

Goldbridge says he thinks the best case scenario is that Knighton and his consortium get the funds together to buy United to get the Glazers out and then sell to someone who can spend the money to get the club back to where it needs to be. Knighton has stated that even if the Glazers do sell to them, they don't have the money to spend on the stadium, players, etc.

He's merely a means to get the club out of the Glazers hands so they can sell to someone who will be a better caretaker of the club and it's history.

 

Personally, I don't think the Glazers would sell unless the club was in significant financial decline or, the offer was obscene.

 

So they want to flip the club? What about shareholders and all that. How does that work?

 

I think after the ESL debacle (something the Glazers had pinned their hopes on) and if things on the pitch continue to show decline, it's possible. They're old guys, they have a success NFL franchise, what do they need Man U for? A few million a year? At some point it might not be worth the trouble and a figure of around 5 billion GBP might get them thinking.

Ratcliffe made a late bid for Chelsea and it was more than Boehly paid. He's from Manchester. He is a United supporter. He's not part of the consortium, yet anyways. If he gets involved, and he might if he thinks there's an opportunity, the Glazers might sell.

https://www.football.london/chelsea-fc/news/jim-ratcliffe-arsenal-chelsea-tottenham-24748210

 

You’re very naive.

 

What's naive? That Ratcliffe might get on board to buy the club? He put a bid in for Chelsea right at the 12th hour. It was too late by then.

There is a real consortium backed by 3 billionaires. It's not made up, but they don't have enough right now to even place a bid. Everything depends on whether Ratcliffe would like to join or not.

If fans express enough displeasure with the Glazers, you think they really want to keep hold of the club? They might entertain an offer if it's large enough.

 

The only way for fans to have an impact is on revenue e.g. stop going to games and buying merchandise. But that will never happen. Everything else is futile.

 

If the manager saying stuff like this didnt make any difference then nothing much the fans can do.

That said, the negativity around the club and the toxicity from the fan will keep rich sponsors away. If we continue to miss top four for a few seasons, then at some point it will be hard for the Glazers to take full dividends if the profits arent sufficient (the loan covenants with the banks force the Glazers to keep us in profit).

So will take a few more years of top four failure and at that point they may be forced to cash out and sell if the piggy bank runs dry.

Avram Glazer, Joel Glazer, Richard Arnold, John Murtough.

YOUR TIME IS UP#GlazersOut #GlazersOutNOW #GlazersSellManUtd

pic.twitter.com/SVQ2PES3TS

— UtdPaper (@UtdPaper_) August 14, 2022

 

Early days I know but think we lose 30% of Adidas contract revenue if we go two consecutive seasons without CL football.

Is why they usually spend bigger in windows after we fail to qualify. So this seasons weak window after lots of player exits is a little odd.

Suggests maybe failure to execute a factor too.

 

What have the Glazers done that makes you think they give a shit about what the fans think?

 

Nothing, but it doesn't mean they will always ignore the fans. It's hard to predict how things will develop, but there is a possibility the Glazers may consider a sale if the club remains in disarray, the fans protest, and there is a real hostile bid on the table worth their while.

You're all welcome to dismiss the idea, but I don't think it's completely impossible, however unlikely.

 

The club has been in disarray since SAF retired...

 

Let's see what happens over the next week or so.