Man Utd owners the Glazers ‘to finally explore sale’ in groundbreaking Old Trafford twist | Football | Sport

Manchester United are poised to announce that their American owners the Glazers are carefully assessing the future of the club as they finally ponder a potential sale, according to reports. The blockbuster development will come as music to the ears of Red Devils supporters, who have longed campaigned to drive the billionaire family out of their club after 17 years of turbulent ownership.

United have undoubtedly declined under the Glazers and their reign has been dominated by fan protests and frustrating decline on the field following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.

But now there is finally light at the end of the tunnel for the club’s fanbase, who are desperate for change as they seek to return to their former glories.

According to Sky News, the Glazers are now putting plans in place to formally announce their intention to ‘examine potential sources of outside investment.’

That could potentially see United placed up for sale – following in the footsteps of Premier League rivals Chelsea (sold earlier this year) and Liverpool.

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“Manchester are a marketing club – they get money from the marketing,” he told Talk TV.

“It will be hard for Manchester to be top of the game in the next two or three years. The owners of the club, the Glazers, don’t care about the club, professional sport.”

Britain’s richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who supports United, revealed back in October that he recently held talks with the Glazer family to discuss the prospect of buying the club but he received no indication that they were interested in a sale.

Ratcliffe, who owns Nice, failed with a late attempt to buy Chelsea earlier this summer and recently ruled out a bid for Liverpool.

He told the Financial Times on his meeting with the Glazers: “I’m a lifelong Manchester United fan. I was there in that most remarkable match in 1999 in Barcelona. That is deeply etched in my mind.

“Manchester United is owned by the Glazer family. I have met Joel and Avram. They are the nicest people, I have to say, proper gentlemen.

“They don’t want to sell it (the club). It’s owned by the six children of the father. If it had been for sale in the summer, yes we would probably have had a go following on from the Chelsea thing. But we can’t sit around hoping one day Manchester United will become available.

“So what will happen now? We have a sports franchise. We own a third of Mercedes’ Formula 1 team. Robbed last year. The one thing we don’t have… Football is the most popular sport in the world. We should have a premier club.

“Nice has got a very interesting history. We’ll have a look at what we might be able to do with Nice.”