Bubble has burst - and they know it

The ‘for sale’ sign outside Old Trafford is not just significant for Manchester United, but for English football as a whole.Taken in isolation, the Glazers’ move could be interpreted as a rich family finally worn down by the vitriol aimed at them by the core United supporter base wanting them out.

Taken in tandem with the parallel manoeuvrings at Anfield, where Liverpool’s American owners are also eyeing the exit, a different conclusion might be reached.

The Premier League, glamorous global football honey pot that it is, could have reached its high point.

United and Liverpool are two of the division’s powerhouses. They have both fuelled the rise in the league’s value and benefited from it.

For the red rivals to be on the market at the same time tells a story. The Glazers, below right, and John W Henry, below left, are no fools. They are shrewd businessmen peering into the same crystal ball.

Having seen the £2.5billion price Todd Boehly paid for Chelsea, they clearly think the time is right to cash out. Liverpool, probably, and United, definitely, will fetch more.

Given Henry paid £300m for Liverpool and the Glazers £790m for United the appeal is obvious. But timing is everything in a sale and if they are choosing the same moment to vote with their feet, what does that say about their faith in the bubble continuing to expand?

The Premier League is comfortably the wealthiest league in Europe. This year’s annual review of football finance by Deloitte measured its revenues for 2020/21 at a bulging £4.6bn, comfortably ahead of the next biggest, Germany’s Bundesliga and Spain’s La Liga at £2.5bn. But the demise of Project Big Picture, dreamed up by Glazer and Henry, thwarted their plans to seize control of the league and hive off a bigger chunk for the big clubs.

The failure of the Super League project – which United and Liverpool signed up to – then blocked the prospect of guaranteed income streams from Europe.

A significant cut of an elite club’s revenue comes through Champions League involvement. The irritating business of sporting merit already makes participation unpredictable – as

United have found to their cost this season. The deluge of money from

Saudi Arabia pouring into Newcastle

United will inevitably make it more so.

Eddie Howe’s side are about to become players at the high table. For the big six, becoming the big seven changes the qualification equation and the Glazers and Henry will have done the math.

With the threat of an independent regulator, who will demand the top-flight clubs pass on a greater share of their riches down the pyramid, hanging over the Premier League as well, the bonanza days could be coming to an end.

While owning a big English club is still financially appealing, it is less lucrative than it might have been. It is always hard to see decline on the horizon from the summit.

The Premier League is adorned by some of the world’s best players. The finest managers want to work here. English teams are found at the sharp end of European competition.

But nothing in sport – or business

– is forever.