Manchester United owners the Glazers could be looking for "other investments" with the club potentially having "reached the peak", according to a football finance expert.
The Glazers last week sold 9.5million shares belonging to directors Kevin and Edward Glazer, roughly eight per cent of the family's holding, at a reported value of £137.1m. Following the sale, the Glazers still own 69pc of the club.
The sale came weeks after Cristiano Ronaldo's return to the club, which prompted a £1.65-per-share rise on the New York Stock Exchange, which totalled a £16m rise in value for the sold shares by the two directors.
Kieran Maguire, a football finance lecturer at Liverpool University, believes the sale of stock could leave the Glazers looking at further investments elsewhere, with United unlikely to further increase their profile on the NYSE.
“This is estate planning,” he told Football Insider. “Even if they sold all of their A shares that are listed on the NYSE, they would still have over 90 per cent of the shares.
“This is cash flow management and tax planning from the Glazers, I believe.
“There’s a case for saying that, on the back of the failure of Super League and Big Picture, that Man United have reached their peak.
“There isn’t a huge amount of room for them to move up into, in terms of the stock market.
“Maybe they are now using that money to look at other investments.”
