Gary Neville has urged the Glazers to find owners that do not want to make money out of Manchester United like near neighbours Manchester City.
The Red Devils have been up for sale since November with a number of parties interested in sealing a deal. INEOS owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari billionaire Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani have lodged a number of offers.
Both have outlined their intent to re-establish United at the top of English football. In the meantime, neighbours Man City were crowned as champions once again on Saturday evening after nearest challengers Arsenal were beaten by Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
In the aftermath of City’s latest title success, Neville was full of praise for the job that the club’s Abu Dhabi owners have done - particularly in investing in the local community, something he wants to see at Old Trafford.
Speaking to The Times, he said: "I look at East Manchester and think about the prosperity Abu Dhabi [ownership of City] has brought there. That needs [to be] applauded. What I would say is whoever the owners are, state funding, US private equity, there should be a clear owners’ test and clear regulation to make sure they stay within the boundaries.
"City have serious allegations against them. 115 breaches of [Premier League financial] rules. I think we have to wait and see what happens but there is no doubt it would taint their success if they were found guilty.
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"Football clubs in some ways should be run like not-for-profit businesses. I know that sounds crazy but you almost want all the money you’ve made to go back into the facilities, the team and the youth development.
"That’s why I feel less threatened by, let’s say, Abu Dhabi’s owners in terms of how they operate, compared to a Glazer family or an FSG [Fenway Sports Group, the Liverpool owner] or a Todd Boehly [the Chelsea co-owner], because I think they do come in quite purely with the ambition to make money, to basically extract from the club as much money as they can in the end.
"I get it but I don’t see football as an ROI [return on investment] based yield-based business. I see football as something far more emotive, that involves passion and community and people. The three bidders at the moment: we’ve got Jim Ratcliffe, which is private money; Qatar, which is private money; and US equity. I’m against that. The club would just be run for profit again.
"We would see dividends, we would see extraction, we would see cost-cutting, we would see commercial exploitation which may be unhealthy for the club.
"The Glazers just have to leave, so if Jim Ratcliffe or Qatar came in without the Glazers, I’d be supportive of it on the condition of what they were pledging with respect to their manifesto to the club."
