Give Old Trafford a facelift, revamp the training ground and get the fans onside
Three huge challenges facing the new owners
FOR the first time in 17 years, Manchester United fans have genuine hope that the Glazer family are ready to sell up and hand control of their football club to a new owner.
The announcement on Tuesday night that co-chairmen Joel and Avram Glazer are exploring ‘strategic alternatives’ which could lead to a full sale has delighted United supporters around the globe who cannot wait to see the back of their American owners.
That will be an advantage to any buyer. They can expect to be welcomed with open arms, purely on the basis that they aren’t the Glazers.
It won’t be plain sailing for United’s new owners, though. There is plenty of work to be done to build bridges with the fanbase, pay off the debts and invest millions more to re-establish the club at the pinnacle of English football.
WINNING OVER THE FANS
FROM the moment the Glazer family completed their leveraged £790million buyout of United in 2005, the Americans were at odds with supporters.
Fans resented the fact that the debt — £514.9m at the last count — was heaped upon United, costing a small fortune in interest payments every year while the Glazers continued to take a dividend out of the club.
Having alienated fans, they rarely showed up at Old Trafford, where anti-Glazer sentiment frequently turned toxic.
It was only after the collapse of the European Super League that Joel Glazer engaged with supporters, creating a fans’ advisory board and promising to set up a fan share scheme. But it was too little, too late.
As an open letter from the Manchester United Supporters Trust stated yesterday: ‘Fans will want to carefully scrutinise any new prospective owner. Most of all we implore them not to repeat the mistakes you did — of alienating the fans that represent the greatest asset of Manchester United.’
The first thing the new owners must do is to rebuild the lost trust between the terraces and the boardroom: to be open and accessible, and show that it isn’t just about the money. That will mean investing in the stadium, the training ground and the team.
They also need to see the fan share scheme through to its conclusion so supporters feel they have a greater say in the running of the club.
THE REDEVELOPMENT OF OLD TRAFFORD
THE so-called Theatre of Dreams is in dire need of a facelift and United appointed master planners in April to oversee the redevelopment.
It could range from upgrading the stadium to knocking it down and rebuilding on the same footprint, or moving altogether.
Either way, it will not be cheap and that is one of the reasons the Glazer family are looking for new investment.
If that extends to a full sale of the club, the Americans could be out of the building long before the bulldozers move in, leaving their successors to foot the bill.
Anyone paying in excess of £5billion to buy the club will have to find significantly more to fund the development and restore Old Trafford as the leading Premier League venue in the country.
UPGRADE THE TRAINING GROUND AT CARRINGTON
A MULTI-MILLION-POUND upgrade of the club’s Carrington training complex is also planned. Once lauded as best in class by Sir Alex Ferguson, it has fallen below the standards of United’s rivals.
Work has already been done to install new floodlights over the summer and upgrade the swimming pool and hydrotherapy area, as well as £200,000 spent on the team briefing room at manager Erik ten Hag’s request.
But United have yet to start work on a new £7m gym for the women’s team — costs have already risen from £5m — and may also build a club hotel on site for the players.
Depending on the timing of any takeover, the costs of the Carrington project could also land in the lap of the new owners.
INVEST IN THE TEAM
THE Glazers have spent more than £1bn on new players since coming to power, although critics would argue they have drained a similar amount out of the club.
On the pitch, United are actually in the best shape they have been for some time. In Ten Hag, the club have appointed a progressive new manager who has already made a significant impact.
A lot of dead wood was cleared out in the summer and it’s fair to say that all the new signings made by Ten Hag — Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen, Casemiro, Antony and Tyrell Malacia — have improved the team.
Arguably, the main problem holding United back this season has been the circus surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo, and that left town on Tuesday night.
Despite a club record £220m spend in the summer, however, former Ajax manager Ten Hag will still need significant backing in the years ahead to have United competing at the highest level again.
The new owners would have to commit a huge amount of money to achieve that aim.