Manchester United legend Roy Keane admits it is ‘good news’ that Manchester United’s Glazer family owners have decided to put the club up for sale.
The already-unpopular American owners have faced increasing pressure to leave the club in recent years, with tensions coming to a head this season, especially after a desperate start to the 2022-23 campaign earlier this term.
Keane claimed that there was ‘no relationship’ between the owners and the fans, and that they were purely ‘business people’ as they look set to end their controversial 17-year association with United.
Roy Keane said it was ‘good news’ that the Glazers were putting Manchester United up for sale
Keane told ITV as part of their World Cup coverage: ‘That’s good news for United fans, again, the last few years they’ve wanted owners out, there’s been no relationship, they [the Glazers] are business people so it’s good news for the fans.’
The news that the American owners had decided to sell came on the same day that it was announced Cristiano Ronaldo would be leaving the club by mutual consent with immediate effect.
In what has been a seismic week for United fans across the world, the news will surely be welcomed with positivity and optimism for the future.
Avram Glazer has already broken his silence after the landmark announcement, after being confronted by a Sky News reporter in Palm Beach, Florida.
‘As we announced yesterday, the board went through a process and it has decided it is going to look at different strategic alternatives and that’s what we’re doing,’ said Glazer, when asked why now was the right time.
Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer has spoken for the first time in public since the club was put up for sale as the American ownership seek new investment or a total buyout
He added: ‘Once again, we are going through a process, we will look at all different strategic alternatives and we will see where it leads us.
‘I appreciate you talking to me tonight and I’m going to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving.’
It was announced in a 333-word statement late on Tuesday night that the Glazers, who have owned United since 2005, are willing to invite outside investment or even sell completely.
Glazer, 62, spoke to Sky News in Florida and confirmed that ‘strategic alternatives’ are being sought which club see new owners at Old Trafford
The statement said the club’s board ‘is commencing a process to explore strategic alternatives for the club…. To enhance the club’s future growth.’
It also claimed that the Glazers would look at all potential options in selling the club, including ‘new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions.’
Raine Group, the New York-based merchant bank, has also been appointed the ‘executive financial advisor’ for United.
The Glazers have owned Man United for 17 years since a controversial takeover back in 2005
Glazer was also quick to comment on club legend Ronaldo, who departed under acrimonious circumstances on Tuesday following n explosive tell-all interview.
He said: ‘I will tell you about Cristiano Ronaldo, he is a great Manchester United player and I appreciate everything he has done for the club and I wish him the best of luck in the future.’
The unpopular owners were one of several club figures to be attacked, with the 37-year-old saying: ‘The Glazers, they don’t care about the club. I mean, professional sport, as you know, Manchester is a marketing club.
‘They will get money from the marketing – the sport, it’s, they don’t really care, in my opinion.’
Ronaldo was scathing about the Glazers ownership of Manchester United in his interview
The news of the Glazers impending departure from Old Trafford has been welcomed with open arms by the vocal Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST), who released a lengthy statement of their own in response.
The group also warned that any potential new owner of the Premier League giants must be prepared to invest, with the current squad deemed far below the required standard for Man United.
‘The statement last night from Manchester United, that the club is up for sale, confirmed information we’d been hearing over recent days,’ the statement read.
Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) have welcomed the news that the Glazer family are finally ready to sell the club after 17 years of ownership
‘Over the last 17 years Manchester United fans have been dismayed with the ownership of the club. Over that period, we have witnessed a decline on the playing side and a decline in our stadium.
‘Until recently, any proper dialogue with fans groups had also been absent. Whilst supporters have long called for change, of course this has to be the right change.
‘At this moment in time our club needs new investment more than ever. That requires new ownership.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is reportedly preparing a bid to buy Manchester United from the Glazers
‘Any prospective new owner or investor has to be committed to the culture, ethos and best traditions of the club. They have to be willing to invest to restore United to former glories, and that investment must be real new money spent on the playing side and the stadium.
‘Finally any new ownership structure must embed supporters, including a degree of fan share ownership, in their operating model. Manchester United’s fans are its greatest asset and hold the key to unlocking the true value of any football club.
‘That relationship has to be one of equals – sharing in ownership and and unified with the same goals.’
Fans protests against the Americans’ ownership have grown in ferocity in recent months
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk