YANKS A BILLION!

With no Super League & prospect of missing out on Champions League windfall, the American owners of Manchester United and Liverpool are now keen to cash out at height of the market

IT was hard to find a disappointed voice in the red half of Manchester when news broke that the Glazer family were putting United on the market.

Sales of refreshments may well have been boosted as long-suffering fans on their way back from work chose the occasion to raise a toast.

But if there was one group who might have cause to rue the potential sale it was Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports, whose own search for investment now looks to have serious competition in the same market.

Liverpool and United are very different propositions, but they both seem set for uncertain immediate futures.

And it seems their American owners have come to the same conclusion – spooked by the prospect of missing out on the Champions League cash yet at the same time attracted to selling at the height of the market. If the Glazers see no future upturn in the value of United it is both good and bad news for the club.

On the one hand a major positive is that Erik ten Hag appears to be improving results on the pitch and they are certainly in the mix for a top-four spot.

On that alone now is a good time not only to sell but to get on board.

Yet the obvious downside is Champions League football next season is by no means guaranteed, particularly with Saudi-backed Newcastle ready to barge into the mix.

Throw in the fact the Old Trafford stadium is in desperate need of investment – certainly upwards of £300million and possibly as much as £1.5billion – and it is no wonder the Glazers are looking for an out.

Both clubs have waited a respectful time since the collapse of the European Super League before showing their true colours, but there is no doubt the fact it has not taken off remains key.

The sticky end for their ultimately doomed ‘Charge of the Tight Brigade’ towards a closed shop has focused minds at both ends of the East Lancs Road.

United’s valuation at a figure around £6bn looks on the high side even though they are undoubtedly the biggest brand operating in the Premier League. But Football finance expert Kieran Maguire insisted buying United is a one-off opportunity with the price tag subject to forces outside of the markets.

“It’s a bit like buying the Mona Lisa,” he said. “There’s only one in the world and people are prepared to pay a premium.”

But Sir Jim Ratcliffe – United fans’ preferred bidder – is not likely to be willingly held over a barrel which could leave the door open for others.

More US investment is one option but likely to be just as unpopular and perhaps unlikely given both the Glazers and Fenway seem to believe the top of the market has been reached.

There are Middle East sovereign state funds who have already invested in Manchester City, Newcastle and Paris Saint-germain.

Conflicts of interest aside, the spending power exercised by that part of the world far outweighs the rest of the field.

Departing striker Cristiano Ronaldo was wrong about much at United in his public blast about the people and club – but he was certainly right about one thing.

The Glazers will probably not much care who gets to own the club after them if they do complete a sale but they will care about extracting the maximum amount on their investment.

At £6bn, football may well have reached its high-water mark.