A FOOTBALL finance expert has claimed that the Glazer family has been “tricked” into thinking that Manchester United is worth £6billion.
Kieran Maguire believes that the Red Devils chiefs have set their valuation of the club based on Todd Boehly’s £4.25b Chelsea takeover.
While a number of potential suitors remain interested in buying Man Utd, nobody has been able to meet the enormous demands set by the Glazers.
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, who is a member of the Qatari royal family, has reportedly proposed a £4.5b offer and a promise to clear the club’s huge debts.
Meanwhile, Sir Jim Ratcliffe – Britain’s richest man – is willing to match the offer without clearing the debts at Old Trafford.
Maguire believes that Man Utd has the potential to be worth more than what has already been tabled, but only if the club’s global fanbase can be monetised.
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He told Football Insider: “The bids for Man United are below the Glazers’ expectations, but they’re not below market expectations from any traditional valuation metric.
“I think the Glazers have got a bit giddy following the Chelsea sale and have been tricked into thinking that Manchester United is worth three times the Chelsea price.
“And while Man United is more valuable for a variety of reasons – strength of the brand, matchday benefits and so on – their asking price is high.
“If somebody can manage to monetise the relationship between fans and club, then Man United at that point will probably be worth more than £4.5bn.
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“But nobody has achieved that to date.
“Everybody in the football industry has been scratching their heads as to how they can monetise a global fan base.”
While potential buyers continue to push for a breakthrough in negotiations, there is a feeling that the Glazers will eventually refuse to sell.
That is because new analysis has revealed that United may only be worth £1.3b as a result of the share prices collapsing.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
