A Manchester United podcast presented by Belfast pair Phil Brown and Colm McGuigan has captured the hearts and minds of fans after being downloaded over 500,000 times in less than 24 hours.
Beyond the Pitch presenter Phil and co-host Colm released a special episode on the latest takeover speculation on Wednesday evening.
The fluid situation continues to unfold after it was reported that the Glazer family are prepared to sell United amid increasing pressure following the club's woeful start to the season. Erik Ten Hag's side sit bottom of the Premier League after back-to-back defeats to Brighton and Brentford.
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British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has expressed an interest in buying the club, after Bloomberg reported the Glazers would consider selling a minority stake. Tesla founder Elon Musk also spiked interest when he said a Twitter post about his plans to buy the club was part of “a long-running joke”.
The takeover rumours have sparked some encouragement among fans who have craved changed for so long. And Belfast native Phil - who now lives in the United States - believes the success of his latest podcast is down to the content resonating with the club's passionate supporters.
Phil told Belfast Live: "I have had a United podcast for years, and during that time I have been very lucky to work the club on various issues.
"I have worked with United employees and had past and present players on the podcast, even players on multiple times a year. It has been quite popular with United fans over the years.
"With regards to the takeover talk, we had information that we were quite confident would resonate with Manchester United fans, and it is probably one of our most downloaded podcasts. Fans are tuning in from all over the world.
"Even today the downloads have been crazy. People wake up in different timezones and things like that. It has been out for about 20 hours now.
"It is two Belfast lads, Colm and I, and we are lucky to have good contacts which allows to put our accurate information that resonates with United fans.
"We are just happy with supporters seem to enjoy the content."
In the latest Beyond the Pitch podcast - which has been downloaded over half a million times across various platforms - Phil and Colm delve into United's perilous position at the bottom of the Premier League table, and assess how likely it is the Glazers would sell the club.
Phil believes the Red Devils are in "serious" danger of being relegated if the club isn't sold.
He says on the latest episode: "Manchester United's results over the past 20 games would have them second from bottom. Manchester United are in serious, serious trouble.
"They haven't even been competitive in games. They played Brighton and Brentford and got demolished. They're not even competitive.
"This football club is on its knees. This football club is dying. And if it doesn't have a complete change of direction, quickly, then Manchester United are in big danger of going down.
"Most of those players don't want to be there."
He added: "Nothing has changed since last season. There has been no bounce with the new manager.
"See what Brentford did. They did what Brighton did. They exploited United's weaknesses. They played exactly the same way.
"Tan Hag has nothing to do with this. If you have 11 players on the pitch who aren't willing to do the basics, you are going down. If they don't run as much as the opposition, you are going down.
"You need to find a way of getting that out of them. How do you get them to identify with he cause when they all want out. None of them believe it is their fault.
"Manchester United have gone down before, and if anyone doesn't believe that is a possibility, I admire their optimism.
"You can't judge players on what they did two years ago. Judge them over the past six months, and those players have downed tools."
The Glazer family have owned Manchester United since 2005 in a highly-leveraged £790m takeover deal. Over the course of the past 17 years they have become increasingly unpopular among the club's fans.
The mood has been lifted somewhat in the past 24 hours after it emerged the Glazers could be willing to sell a minority stake in the club, which could potentially lead to a complete sale at some point in the future.
Brown says the information he has obtained would suggest a full sale could happen sooner than expected.
"If you are a United fan right now, this club is in the process of getting sold. And I am quite confident that is the case," he said on the podcast.
"I have been sitting on this for a few days which is part of the reason I have been quiet. I have been handed other information that is astonishing, to be quite honest."
He added: "There is no way this football club will be owned by the Glazers by the end of the year. No way.
"It (rebuild) will happen much quicker under new owners than it will with the current ones. The current owners are taking this club down.
"If United don't get new owners quickly who are willing to invest in the football club, Manchester United are in serious trouble. Most of the players don't want to be there.
"They're not even competitive in games. The atmosphere inside the club is an absolute disgrace and it is impossible for Erik ten Hag to do a job.
"He hasn't been backed and it is blatantly obvious the current players can't play the way he wants them to play."
Anyone wanting to listen to the latest Beyond the Pitch podcast can check it out HERE
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