Manchester United owners the Glazer family have been weighing up the merits of two rival bids for a number of months, one from Qatar and one from a British bidder
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Gary Neville says he is not opposed to “state-clubs” but recognises a Qatari takeover of Manchester United would attract major scrutiny.
Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani is one of the remaining bidders, along with British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Current owners the Glazer family have yet to reach a decision on the future of the club, having been at the helm since 2005.
A number of Premier League clubs have enjoyed the fruits of investment from gulf states, with Manchester City under the ownership of the Abu Dhabi United Group for more than a decade. More recently, Newcastle were taken over by a group backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and Neville addressed the potential for United to go down a similar route.
“I am not opposed to ‘State Clubs’,” the 48-year-old told Marca. “I have not opposed Newcastle or Manchester City.
“I think United will be under greater scrutiny because the size of the club is enormous. The reality is that Abu Dhabi has owned Manchester City for 15 years, so I think the important thing in English football is the regulation of the owners, not only of the ‘state-clubs’, but also of the venture capital funds that are entering the Premier League to exploit English football.
Neville also laid bare his hopes for the next owners, whoever they end up being. “I hope the new owners can establish the right culture at the club and do the right thing to give Erik ten Hag the money needed to get the club back to where he needs to be,” he said.
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The Glazer family have owned Man Utd since 2005 (
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Neville has been a vocal critic of the Glazer family, both before and after their announcement in November that they were exploring a number of options including a potential sale. Earlier this year he expressed his concern about the prospect of the family allowing an outside party to take a minority investment while leaving the current owners at the helm.
“Strategic investment - which is something FSG are mentioning at Liverpool - that means that ultimately you buy part of the family out and leave Joel and Avram [Glazer] in,” Neville said on The Overlap. “But what Joel and Avram will retain is running and control of the club - that is a nightmare scenario..
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”..Any investor coming in to take out a minority stake, they will be very unpopular people and their brand will be damaged,” he added. Liverpool have since agreed a deal with Dynasty Equity, whereby the private equity firm will take a small stake in the Merseyside club in exchange for an investment of up to $200m.
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