Over to you, Jim. Ratcliffe, O’Neill, there is always a Jim where Manchester United are concerned. Through the years there have been a whole lot of Jims who have claimed they can fix it for the club and now they have got their chance.
At last, the Glazers want to sell. Like their compatriots at Liverpool, the body blow that was the collapse of the Super League was too much and they are getting out.
A figure in excess of £5billion is quoted, maybe as much as £9bn, but there is a price and it will be revealed — no doubt privately — to any serious bidder. So come on down, you billionaires. Now, it gets real.
That has always been the problem with Manchester United. The club was easy to buy when the club had no intention of selling.
Certainly, it was easier to talk about buying. Anyone who fancied creating a headline could buy Manchester United, even Michael Knighton and now David Beckham.
A whole lot of ‘Jims’ have claimed they can fix it for Manchester United – with British tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe (above) saying he wants to buy the club – now he, and others, will have the chance
Baron Jim O’Neill has also claimed he is interested in a purchase – but are his words just hot air?
It was like one of those charity auctions where the big prize is, say, the shirt Edwin van der Sar was wearing for John Terry’s missed penalty in the Champions League final.
‘Who’s going to start the bidding at a grand?’ asks the master of ceremonies and someone puts his hand up because that is still a lot of money and makes him look big and generous, but he knows it’s going to go for 10 times that, minimum, and there is no real chance of the bill dropping on his table.
And that’s Manchester United. Anyone can make a populist speech about letting the club go to a real fan — even real fans like Ratcliffe, who are Chelsea season ticket holders — or implore the Glazers to do the decent thing and sell it cheaply, safe in the knowledge that bluff was never going to be called.
O’Neill — now Baron O’Neill of Gatley — once talked up a consortium known as the Red Knights who were very vocal during the first green and gold protests. He predicted a United and Liverpool sale in 2021, too.
That’s Manchester United – anyone, like Michael Knighton (above), can make a populist speech about letting the club go to a real fan, safe in the knowledge their bluff will never be called
He is clearly an astute guy but will he try again, now the club is genuinely…