MANCHESTER, Aug 17 — British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe’s interest in buying Manchester United has raised the hopes of the club’s supporters that their American owners, the Glazer family, might now sell the club and pave the way for a return to glory on the field.
But the fans, who are set to protest against the Glazers again at Monday’s Premier League clash with old rivals Liverpool, are hoping for much more radical change than a new junior-partner owner. In May, United reported a net loss of £27.7 million for the three months to March 31, compared with a loss of £18.1 million a year earlier — numbers impacted by Covid restrictions.
A consortium led by LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and backed by Clearlake Capital won the race to buy the London club, paying £2.5 billion and committing to spend a further £1.7 billion on it over the next decade.If the Glazers were to consider selling, what would be the likely asking price? The Americans bought the club for £790 million in 2005 in a highly leveraged deal which has been criticised for loading debt onto the club.