Glazer family silent as Manchester United slide towards the bottom
The majority owners have stayed out of sight since ceding football control to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and ESPN reports no buyers are waiting.
The Glazer family, owners of Manchester United since 2005, have been silent and invisible during the club's latest crisis, according to ESPN.
The slide deepened with Sunday's 3-0 defeat against Bournemouth, which one guest watched from the directors' box. "The fans were all singing about the Glazers, but I'm not sure they realize how bad Jim is," the guest told ESPN.
The family, led by Joel Glazer, handed control of football operations to Sir Jim Ratcliffe when he bought a minority shareholding in the club. They remain United's majority shareholders and also own the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Joel has not attended a game at Old Trafford since United played Barcelona, ESPN reported.
Their tenure has never been popular with supporters, because the leveraged takeover loaded the club with heavy debt. ESPN also reported that co-chairmen Joel and Avram Glazer were unhappy with how the recent job cuts were handled.
According to ESPN, the family are biding their time until the moment is right to sell, although investors currently have no appetite for buying a Premier League club. If a sale does happen, a drag-along clause allows the Glazers to force Ratcliffe to give up his stake when they sell United to a third party.
Written by NextGOAL · reviewed and approved by our team 09:54 · Spotted a mistake? Tell us