Gary Neville wants to see the takeover process at Manchester United continue to proceed but has outlined one major concern among the Old Trafford fan base.
Bidders including Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos and Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani have moved to the next stage of the process that could lead to a takeover of United. That is expected to involve access to data room information and allowing bidders an opportunity to conduct due diligence in what is likely to be a lengthy process.
The Glazer family effectively put the club on the market last November with Sheikh Jassim and Ineos the only bidders to have gone public. Neville, speaking ahead of Manchester United's game at Liverpool on the Premier League on Sunday, offered his view and also spoke of the fear among the fan base that the Glazers could remain at the helm.
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"It is a sale process and we could try and ask for transparency and better communication but we are not going to get that from the Glazers," said Neville, speaking to Sky Sports. "They have not communicated with United fans for 20 years so they are not going to do it when they are selling the club, so there is that element of unknown. I would like to think decent owners of a football club would update fans on what is going on but they are not.
"The biggest fear of Manchester United fans at this moment in time is that the Glazers are using this process to stay or bring some sort of minority investment in. They are taking it into the second round, we hear that quite openly from behind the scenes, not necessarily from the Glazers family or the club but from the bidding parties' PA teams who you can contact and who will tell you where they're up to.
"Manchester United played at Wembley last week and the fans are singing 'we want Glazers out.' Manchester United played against West Ham on Wednesday night and United score a couple of goals late on and the fans are singing 'we want Glazers out.'
"It is absolutely unequivocal and definite that the fans want rid of the Glazer family and they do know that. They need to understand that if they weren't to sell this would not be a great situation at Manchester United and in Manchester, it would not be taken well. At this moment in time there is a fear that it's not going to happen but hopefully it is moving through the sale process as it normally would.
"Hopefully they are going to accept the best bid and not some fantasy number that they have got in their heads. I don't think they will make it easy. We have rules, regulations and laws in our country, which are right, that mean you cant just get people out of a company that they own shares in. They are going to need to accept that bid and hopefully they will, whether it is off the American consortium we have heard about this morning, the Qataris or Jim Ratcliffe's bid."
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