The Glazers once again find themselves under the spotlight following Manchester United 's poor start to the season.
Two losses, the latter an embarrassing one at Brentford, has seen calls for action and the continued absence of the club's American owners has copped major criticism - not least from Gary Neville, who has long spoken out against those at the top at Old Trafford.
The Glazers have left the club to its own devices, employing individuals to run the club, which has not been a successful strategy. Fans have long had their grievances, but the demise of the team in the past decade has escalated those issues, with a pitch invasion last year a show of discontent.
Despite that the American family, who also own NFL side the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have shown no desire to sell with the club still heavily in debt. That stance could be easing however amid claims from an agent that in the next 24 months the club will change hands. But with United set to cost billions of pounds, the market for buyers is very small.
The influx of money into the Premier League from the Middle East has not been well received, whilst Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich opted to sell Chelsea amid the political ramifications due to the invasion into Ukraine. With that in mind we take a look at who could buy the Premier League giants.
Michael Knighton
He put himself on the map when he lodged a then-record £20m bid to buy United back in 1989. Investors ended up withdrawing, which saw the offer fall apart. He instead took up a seat on the club's board. Now he is ready to return with a fresh bid as he looks to lead a consortium, which would need major financial backing.
"We are a club in crisis and we all know the reason why," he told Man Utd The Religion this week. "We have an inept and frankly useless ownership who know little about this game of football. Everyone knows that we need new ownership of this football club and that is my aim and those are my objectives. I am making good progress, continuing to talk to the people, I have got some good pledges and good finance."
Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Britain's wealthiest man has long been linked with the purchase of a football club and Knighton is looking to get him involved. Already he owns Nice Football Club and has shares in the Mercedes Formula 1 outfit, through his company INEOS, and has shown a willingness to invest his billions in sports projects.
He's been quizzed previously on why he hasn't lodged a bid for United and said: " Manchester United ’s not for sale". In late 2019, he was asked by the Times if he would be interested in buying the Red Devils, to which he replied: "Not at the moment, no. They are in quite a big pickle as a business.
"(Ineos) never wants to be the dumb money in town, never, never. They haven't got the manager selection right, haven't bought well. They have been the dumb money, which you see with players like Fred. We won't look elsewhere until we have had a good run here (at Nice). We need to find out how to be successful before you ever want to write a big cheque. It's quite difficult."
Ratcliffe had been linked with the purchase of Chelsea and saw a bid rejected in April.
New York investors
United may be reluctant to swap one American owner for another, but might have little choice. According to Stretty News, a New York-based investment fund are looking to put together a bid. Discussions have been held and the situation is said to be ‘very much real’.
The Premier League side have been listed on the New York stock exchange for a decade and now investors from the Big Apple itself could make moves to usurp the Glazers which would continue the vast American ownership in England that was seen as a factor in the inception of the Super League.
Mukesh Ambani
The Indian billionaire is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries. He is thought to be worth $95bn which would make the purchase of United more than feasible, should he have any interest in doing so. Indian investment in the Premier League is anything but regular, but it remans a possibility.
Ambani was titled "The World's Richest Sports Team Owner" after he purchased IPL cricket team Mumbai Indians for $111m in 2008. He has led them to several titles during his tenure by capturing some of the world's biggest stars and would no doubt look to do likewise if he bought a football club.
Elon Musk
The South African, who is the CEO of Tesla and worth over $200bn, has recently joked and then shut down rumours that he could buy the Premier League club. Musk certainly has the finances to do so, but it is a case of whether he has the interest. He clarified his recent comments, claiming: "This is a long-running joke on Twitter. I’m not buying any sports teams." Prior to that he had said: "Also, I'm buying Manchester United ur welcome."
