There are no signs of the Manchester United takeover saga coming to an end anytime soon. The 18th anniversary of Joel Glaser's appearance on MUTV, which aired on the evening of Friday, July 1, although it was recorded a couple of days earlier at Old Trafford, before security was forced to accompany him and gather the brothers and sisters at the stadium past protesting fans.
Time can slow down when Glazer owns Manchester United. Whether you are waiting for further public statements from the family itself is still pending, with the exception of one open letter – the 21st league title or indeed the completion of the takeover of the club.
This alone is an extraordinary convulsion in the life of the club, which for several weeks at the beginning of this year set the game on fire. It was supposed to be completed in the first quarter of 2023 and certainly by the end of last season. Now, with two games into the new Premier League season and 13 days left in the transfer window, stakeholders are wondering if this was all a dream.
Development slowed down to a minimum. Competing interests, Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, are forced to wait in the proverbial hallway while the Glazer siblings endlessly toss options. Just like Legacy, they say, but at least the TV drama in question had an ending. Mysterious sheikhs, numerous stakes, set and ignored deadlines. There was everything in the history of the takeover of United, except for the actual takeover.
“Judge us by the long journey, not by one day or the last few months.” Joel Glaser's words, spoken 18 years ago, seemed mostly the kind of things people have to say when buying a football club of great social and cultural significance. But he said it nonetheless. “People don't have to worry about us. We are traditionalists. We like to continue the tradition and we will continue to do so.”
At the time, he was trying to prevent a supporter uprising, which the Glazers realized would never be stopped, but would instead become much more dangerous. Soon they will stop trying. The Glazers found it much easier to ignore all this than the complex, messy process of persuading and appeasing club support. So they ignored it, and now, 18 years later, it's never been clearer than ever that for United's six Glazer siblings, it's all about price and how much they can take.
Avram Glazer and wife Kendall at Wembley ahead of the FA Cup final in May. Photo: PA/Mike Egerton
Any idea of what might be right for the club, its future, or the many who care about it, has been placed where the Glazers think it should be: at the bottom of the pile. Let's go back to Joel Glaser in the last week of July 2005. “Part of the attraction is passion; how much people care. I care about the same things as the fans, what happens on the field. It makes you even more aware of the enormous responsibility that is involved here.”
An amazing responsibility. He got it right. That's the nature of United – a plethora of difficult decisions, and it's been that way this year. The right choice of Mason Greenwood or managing a shrinking transfer budget in a market where opponents prefer to be much more optimistic. More broadly, shaping the future of European club competition and fair financial controls in the age of state clubs. All of these issues should be the focus of United's owners, but they are nowhere to be found. They are invisible.
The Glazers know they can't lose. Whatever happened to United after 2005 and then after Sir Alex Ferguson, the value of elite English football, and by extension the value of its most famous club, has risen. Even the owner, who spent £1bn servicing his own foreclosure debt and made all the other bad decisions the Glazers have made since 2013, didn't derail that train. Perhaps that is why they are hesitant to give up control as each deadline approaches. This is the best investment – no matter how stupid you do, the price will still go up.
Manchester United are ready for more fan protests if the club's sale is not completed. Photo: Ed Sykes/Reuters
Meanwhile, the two parties concerned find themselves in a state of paralysis. They recognize that the public in the United States is hungry for change, and there is much that both of them would like to discuss. Indeed, we would all benefit from knowing a little more about Sheikh Jassim and the source of what sounds like his vast wealth, beyond the only official photograph of him in circulation.
However, both must carefully dance around the Glazers' sensitivity and paralyzing inactivity. Immeasurable wealth and great success, it may be supposed, have bestowed upon Sheikh Jasim and Sir Jim many privileges which are denied to all of us, but none of them is the power to induce the six Glazer brothers and sisters to do anything quickly. Or indeed, in general. One risky move in a public relations strategy and the consequences could be severe for either side that wants to buy United.
There's never a bad time to land such an important job, as manager of Manchester United. although Erik ten Hag would certainly change some things if he could. Not least of all the fan excitement that could come from the lack of a sale. He and other club leaders had to push through the original plan for the summer, as it became clear that there would be no changing of the guard until then. Losses of £115m suffered by United in the last financial year resulted in spending caps this summer that have remained stable but not yet expected to be impressive.
End if this is the end, Glazer. possession turns out to be as painful and neurotic as its beginning. Family first, club later. At least it's comforting that this time none of the Glazers are trying to tell us that things are different.
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