Man United are up for sale: What does it mean, and what happens next?

Manchester United are up for sale. The Glazer family, United's owners since 2005, has announced it is exploring "strategic alternatives to heighten the club's growth," but strip distant the cautiously layered lines of the connection and 1 connection jumps consecutive retired -- sale.

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Ever since angering United's supporters by borrowing heavy against the nine -- who were past debt-free, but the latest fiscal connection revealed a nett indebtedness of £514.9 million -- to money its takeover 17 years ago, the American family, which besides owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL franchise, has repeatedly stated that it is semipermanent proprietor with nary volition to merchantability up.

But little than a period aft Liverpool were made disposable by their American owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG) for £4.4 billion, United are present besides connected the marketplace and volition apt beryllium worthy astatine slightest double. It means that the Premier League's 2 biggest and astir historically palmy clubs present person uncertain futures.

So what is the communicative down the Glazers' determination to invitation offers for United, and what happens next?

Why are the Glazers selling Man United now?

There are galore factors. There isn't 1 peculiarly cardinal reason, but the coming unneurotic of antithetic strands that person each impacted connected the Glazers' quality to tally a nine arsenic large arsenic United.

Primarily, this is astir money. The Glazers request astatine slightest £200m to upgrade Old Trafford, which is the Premier League's biggest stadium but its facilities person fallen down those astatine Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Liverpool.

They besides spent implicit £200m connected caller signings this summer, contempt commercialized revenues slowing down owed to a deficiency of occurrence -- there's been nary trophy since winning the Europa League successful 2017 -- and the interaction of the COVID-19 pandemic.

United announced a nett nonaccomplishment of £115.5m for past season, truthful the walls were closing successful connected the Glazers. They simply can't rebuild Old Trafford, motion the champion players and trim their indebtedness connected their own. And with involvement rates climbing sharply crossed the satellite close now, borrowing has go a overmuch much costly option. So the request to either pull a affluent capitalist to assistance with each of the above, oregon simply merchantability up, is clear.

The vocal and disposable anti-Glazer run led by United's supporters is different factor. While the Glazers person mostly blanked retired the protests passim their clip arsenic owners, the fans' groups judge their campaigns are making United a little charismatic conveyance for imaginable sponsors -- whose wealth the Glazers trust upon to thrust the club's revenue.

And different cardinal constituent successful the determination is the merchantability of Chelsea. All of a sudden, elite shot clubs person a benchmark to measurement their ain worth against and the Glazers cognize that United could beryllium worth up to 4 times the eventual Chelsea merchantability terms of £2.5bn.

Are Man United truly up for sale?

All options are connected the table. Sources person told ESPN that the Glazers spot a immense premium connected the kudos that comes with owning this celebrated club, truthful the perfect script would beryllium to pull an capitalist oregon spouse who would lick their fiscal issues and permission them to proceed to bask their ownership of the club.

But arsenic 1 fiscal adept progressive successful shot ownership told ESPN, "those unicorns don't exist."

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Mark Ogden lays retired the options for Cristiano Ronaldo's aboriginal aft the guardant near Manchester United with contiguous effect.

Quite simply, if idiosyncratic has the wealth to put successful United, they are going to privation their accidental successful however it is tally and the Glazers can't expect a bailout and the escaped rein to transportation connected regardless.

One cardinal pointer towards the Glazers' existent motives is the enlisting of the American bank, Raine Group. Raine was hired by Roman Abramovich to find a purchaser for Chelsea earlier this twelvemonth and it dealt with implicit 200 incomings (expressions of interest.)

Several high-worth individuals and backstage equity funds made the last shortlist to bargain Chelsea, but missed retired to a consortium led by Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly.

But from that process, Raine present has a database of hugely affluent imaginable buyers for United connected velocity dial and the Glazers cognize this. They volition person seen the involvement successful Chelsea and realised that they could merchantability United rapidly and marque a monolithic profit.

Although the last outgo of their takeover successful 2005 was £790m, the Glazers lone invested £270m of their ain wealth -- the different £520m was leveraged against United's fiscal mightiness -- truthful a multi-billion lb merchantability volition spot them locomotion distant with a immense instrumentality connected their archetypal outlay.

How is this antithetic to Liverpool's situation?

Much of the occupation for the caller owners has already been done. Under FSG, Liverpool person achieved large success, including winning the Champions League and Premier League, with astute recruitment, astute fiscal decisions and ongoing concern disconnected the transportation with a caller grooming crushed and a revamp of Anfield.

FSG has turned Liverpool into a palmy instrumentality having bought the nine for £300m successful 2010, but contempt transforming Liverpool's fortunes, the situation of keeping gait with state-owned clubs specified arsenic Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United is becoming excessively hard and FSG present wants retired earlier the upwards trajectory begins to flat-line and perchance diminish the club's worth of astir £4bn.

Under the Glazers, United person made the other travel to Liverpool nether FSG. Where FSG inherited a mess, a nine failing to recreate their glorious past, the Glazers bought a shot and commercialized juggernaut that was the satellite person connected and disconnected the pitch.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired arsenic manager successful 2013, the occurrence connected the transportation has dried up and the Glazers person displayed nary of the smart, strategical decisions that person defined FSG's ownership of Liverpool. In caller years, the Glazers person wasted colossal amounts of wealth connected signings and wages successful an effort to marque United palmy again and they person reached the constituent wherever they tin nary longer pursuit their losses.

FSG is selling Liverpool having made them a occurrence story, but astatine a clip erstwhile it knows it volition beryllium tougher to support that occurrence going.

The Glazers, meanwhile, person tally retired of options and immoderate caller proprietor of United would person to rebuild a crumbling empire.

How overmuch are Man United truly worth?

United are 1 of the apical 3 brands successful satellite football, alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona. In presumption of planetary fanbase, past and commercialized power, those 3 teams basal isolated from the rest.

United are football's mentation of the Dallas Cowboys oregon Los Angeles Lakers -- each glamour and glory (or astatine slightest they utilized to be.)

Speaking to ESPN earlier this month, Chris Mann, caput of mergers and acquisitions for New York and London-based planetary sports advisory radical Sportsology, spoke of the "scarcity value" of elite shot clubs for imaginable investors, truthful the imaginable of owning United volition make immense involvement and, successful turn, thrust up the club's valuation.

Recent income of 2 storied sports teams earlier this twelvemonth connection a bully usher to United's value. Chelsea were sold for £2.5bn (Boehly's radical pledged a further £1.75bn successful ongoing investment), portion the Denver Broncos NFL franchise changed hands successful a woody totalling £3.95bn.

Both Chelsea and the Broncos are big, well-known brands, but the Broncos aren't the Dallas Cowboys and Chelsea aren't Manchester United. It would beryllium similar comparing a Chevrolet to a Ferrari.

Sources person told ESPN that Liverpool are apt to pull a £4bn valuation, but United could spell arsenic precocious arsenic £8bn. Why? Because of the quality of imaginable caller owners to make immense gross streams connected the backmost of United's overmuch greater planetary power.

Even though United person been a failing endeavor connected the transportation for the past 10 years, they stay a Grade "A" sports marque and sponsors proceed to privation to wage fortunes to beryllium associated with them. United are the biggest location connected the astir prestigious roadworthy successful municipality and, erstwhile they travel available, idiosyncratic volition wage immoderate it takes to bargain them.

What would a caller purchaser get?

The self-styled world's biggest shot club, the accidental to marque monolithic wealth connected the backmost of it, the imaginable of the glory that comes with winning Premier Leagues and Champions Leagues -- and a rebuilding occupation connected and disconnected the transportation that could outgo fractional a cardinal pounds.

However, if you person the funds to bargain United, the outgo of the tweaks that volition beryllium needed to bring everything up to scratch whitethorn not beryllium excessively overmuch of an issue.

The archetypal occupation volition beryllium to reconstruct Old Trafford to its erstwhile presumption arsenic the Premier League's champion stadium. The extortion connected the main basal leaks erstwhile it rains and that is the cleanable metaphor for the authorities of the stadium aft 17 years of Glazer neglect. It volition outgo astatine slightest £200m to upgrade the facilities and astir apt much if caller owners person much ambitious plans than the Glazers, who simply request to bash the repair jobs they person overlooked for truthful galore years.

A caller grooming ground, oregon modernised one, volition besides acceptable immoderate caller owners backmost to the tune of millions.

And determination volition besides beryllium a hefty measure erstwhile it comes to making manager Erik 10 Hag's squad heavy capable and bully capable to vie for the titles that United erstwhile won with unerring regularity.

So portion owning United volition bring undoubted prestige to immoderate caller owner, it won't beryllium without archetypal problems and the request to walk plentifulness much than the acquisition fee.

Who could bargain Man United?

The tract of imaginable caller owners successful the Premier League has diminished rather starkly successful caller months.

Russian oligarchs are out, owed to the sanctions imposed by occidental governments arsenic a effect of Russia's penetration of Ukraine, portion the question of Chinese concern into large European clubs has crushed to a halt since the pandemic and limitations from its government.

Sovereign wealthiness funds, specified arsenic those down Manchester City (Abu Dhabi), Paris Saint-Germain (Qatar) and Newcastle (Saudi Arabia) cannot ain much than 1 nine successful the aforesaid contention (Premier League oregon Champions League), truthful that volition interaction connected the list.

But arsenic the merchantability process for Chelsea showed, determination is nary shortage of affluent individuals and groups successful the United States and that is the likeliest spot from wherever the adjacent United owners volition emerge.

Britain's richest man, Jim Ratcliffe, has already gone nationalist with his involvement successful buying United, but said earlier this play that the Glazers had made it wide they didn't privation to sell.

With a idiosyncratic luck successful excess of £5bn, the boyhood United fan, who failed successful a bid to bargain Chelsea earlier this year, is seen arsenic the supporters' prime owed to his connections to the club. But Ratcliffe, who owns French squad Nice, could beryllium outbid by wealthier rivals.

Another large bidder for Chelsea was the Ricketts family, which owns the Chicago Cubs. It partnered with Ken Griffin, the bulk shareholder successful hedge money radical Citadel, whose idiosyncratic wealthiness is reported to beryllium successful excess of £20bn.

Ares Managements, a Los Angeles-based concern company, has precocious stated its ambition to adhd a European shot nine to its portfolio.

In 2021, 15 clubs successful Europe's large 5 leagues -- England, Spain, Germany, France and Italy -- were either taken implicit oregon invested successful and two-thirds of those progressive were American individuals oregon groups.

So portion an incredibly affluent idiosyncratic oregon sovereign wealthiness money could yet look arsenic a purchaser for United, perchance from India, Dubai oregon the oil-rich erstwhile Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, the astute wealth is connected United's American owners being bought retired by different American group.