Michael Knighton said 'there will always be trolls and naysayers' as he thanked fans for their messages after vowing to bid to buy Manchester United.
Knighton, who attempted to complete a takeover of United in 1989, claimed this week that he has drawn up a fresh bid to buy the club from the Glazer family with the support of a consortium. The Glazers are under increasing pressure to sell United and a sizeable protest was held against them ahead of Sunday's Premier League opener against Brighton at Old Trafford.
Supporters have been left hugely disappointed with United's recruitment this summer and the club's recent plan to try and bring former Stoke City and West Ham United striker Marko Arnautovic to Old Trafford received an angry backlash, only increasing calls for the Glazers to sell up.
READ MORE: Most United fans know the truth about Michael Knighton's takeover hopes
But despite Knighton outlining his ambitions to purchase United from the Glazers, there are significant and well-founded doubts about his prospects of completing a takeover.
Knighton is not viewed as a credible candidate to take over, but he took to Twitter anyway to write: "Many thanks for ALL the brilliantly kind messages of support, this is really much appreciated. I apologise for taking time to tweet back & respond to individuals but the response has been truly massive. Ignore the trolls & naysayers, they will always be there, they make me smile."
In an interview with Man Utd The Religion, released on Tuesday evening, Knighton said: "We are a club in crisis and we all know the reason why. 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.
"We are now working on the offer document. Remember, it is a hostile bid - that simply means that the club isn't officially for sale. But my intention is to present these owners with a legitimate, potent and commercial offer to say: 'You have run out of road, it's time go, because your time is up'.
"And frankly, the fans worldwide have had enough of this regime. The exciting feeling of a new season, which we all have, and that balloon of excitement that is there, it was all burst when we quickly saw the performance against Brighton. The club is in crisis and it will remain in crisis while we have this current ownership."
United's share price soared by 11.94 per cent on Wednesday following the release of the interview - its biggest rise in a single day for nine years.
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