Manchester United's owners are planning to leave behind the £500 million debts they have accrued at Old Trafford.
In one final cruel twist of pain, the Glazer family's proposed plan to sell the biggest club in football for £6billion will also include an understanding that they will walk away from the financial mess that is prompting them to finally get out of Manchester.
United’s latest figures showed their net debts stand at just under £515 million after the club used a £100 million credit facility to ease the cost of the covid crisis.
That means just £35 million has been wiped off the £550 leveraged debt the Glazers placed onto the club when they completed a £790 million buy-out in May 2005.
In the intervening years, they have taken out around £1.6 billion in dividends and management charges, debt repayments and share sales. The new owners will pick up the bill.
They will also be left with a stadium that is in desperate need of a revamp or complete rebuild - meaning the final bill to bring United back up to standard could come in at more than £8 billion.
Chelsea became the most expensive football club in the world when Todd Boehly bought the Londoners from Roman Abramovich for £4.25 billion last year.
Who do you want to buy Manchester United from the Glazers? Have your say here
Yet despite the prohibitive cost required to make United great again, Sunday Mirror Sport understands there is no shortage of interest. Jim Ratcliffe, who is Britain’s richest man, has confirmed he wants to buy the club he supported as a boy.
Interest has also been lodged from the Far East, Middle East and United States with Raines Group, the merchant bank tasked with the sale.
Next month will mark the 20th anniversary of Malcolm Glazer’s first purchase of shares in United - he paid £9 million for a two percent stake. Ironically, shares in the club have almost doubled since last summer from $11.35 in August 2022 to close at $22.09 on Friday.
