London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Manchester United owners warned they have 'run out of road' and should sell up

Manchester United owners warned they have 'run out of road' and should sell up

Former Manchester United director Michael Knighton is putting his own ambitions to buy the struggling club on hold to back Sir Jim Ratcliffe to become the new owner.

Mr Knighton told Sky News that the Glazers "have run out of road" and should sell up.

The American family has given no indication it is willing to bow to fan pressure by selling the record 20-time league champions after 17 years.

But Mr Ratcliffe went public this week with his desire to potentially invest in the club the billionaire has supported since a child before making his fortune in chemicals with INEOS.

Mr Knighton told Sky News: "My message to the Glazer family is, you have run out of road. Please with honour, with dignity, with professionalism, just quietly push the exit door now. Your time has finished, it's over and the man to sell this football club to is British man Sir Jim Ratcliffe."

Mr Knighton had been forming his own consortium and claims to have raised more than £3bn, but Mr Ratcliffe's wealth eclipses their financial firepower.

"We need every Manchester United fan to back Sir Jim Ratcliffe," Mr Knighton said.

"If Jim doesn't do it, we will be there. We will be launching the hostile bid."

Many fans want the Glazer family to sell up


Mr Knighton saw his own £20m bid for United collapse in 1989. The last change of ownership at Old Trafford was to the Glazers in 2005 for £790m in a takeover that loaded the club with debt that is now around £500m.

Fans are enraged by the more than £1bn it has cost the Glazers to service the debt while cashing in themselves by receiving dividends from the club.

The nine years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired have seen United spend more than £1bn on players, but poor decision-making on transfers has seen the club unable to regain the Premier League trophy since 2013.

The new season has started with two defeats, including a 4-0 humiliation at Brentford on Saturday that no member of the Glazer family was in London to see.

Mr Knighton added: "Every businessman in the land, certainly of a certain level if they've got commercial nous at all, knows these people will be seeking an exit.

"They are damaging their own brand, they are damaging their investment and of course, everything else in the world is for sale for the right price. They are damaging and reducing the value of their own shareholding."

There was no comment on Thursday about future ownership from the club that has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since 2012.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×