The past week has been heated, to put it mildly, at Manchester United after Cristiano Ronaldo gave scathing remarks about the club in an explosive interview with Piers Morgan.
The Portuguese superstar accused the club of betraying him, showing a lack of respect on his second return to Manchester, where he starred for the Red Devils between 2003 and 2009, winning the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2008 at his peak.
There have been mixed reactions from fans and pundits all over the world about Ronaldo’s remarks, but one thing was clear, it was going to be the end of the road for the former Real Madrid man, who had been plotting his way out of Old Trafford since the summer. That wish finally came to pass on Wednesday 23rd November.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is to leave Manchester United by mutual agreement, with immediate effect,” the club statement read.
“The club thanks him for his immense contribution across two spells at Old Trafford, scoring 145 goals in 346 appearances, and wishes him and his family well for the future.”
“Everyone at Manchester United remains focused on continuing the team’s progress under Erik ten Hag and working together to deliver success on the pitch.”
One of the biggest talking points in Ronaldo’s interview with Morgan was his overt criticism of the Glazers’ ownership club. He stated that the American family are not concerned about matters on the pitch.
“The owners of the club, they don’t care about the club,” Ronaldo said.
“As you know Manchester United is a marketing club, they will get their money from the marketing, but with the sports they don’t really care in my opinion.”
The Glazers attained ownership of the Red Devils in 2005, when the patriarch of the family, Malcom Glazer purchased the club for a reported £790 million. The takeover wasn’t supported by some sections of the fans, who in retaliation went ahead to form another club known as ‘F.C. United of Manchester’. Manchester United Supporters’ Trust were also looking for ways to take control of the club from the Glazers, but their efforts proved futile as they couldn’t raise the funds that met the Glazers’ valuation.
Success continued under the new ownership with the revered Sir Alex Ferguson still at the helm. United won the UEFA Champions League in 2008 and reached the final twice between 2009- 2011. Moreover, a record-breaking 20th league title was sealed in 2013, cementing United’s status as the most successful club in English top-flight (till date). In all, 19 major trophies have been won under the Glazers.
These achievements merely served as paper over the cracks to many of the United faithful, with the criticism of the Glazers growing even louder after Ferguson retired in 2013. His departure prompted a gradual decline for Red Devils- with the 2013/2014 campaign resulting in their worst performance on the pitch in almost 40 years. Malcom Glazer died in 2014 and control of the club was split between his two sons Avram and Joel. What has followed is an era of mediocrity- United have yet to win the title since the 2012/2013 season, with only 4 top four finishes in the past 9 seasons. For context, Champions League qualification, which was once viewed as a birthright, is now celebrated as the bar for the success for the former Premier League giants.
The lack of success on the pitch naturally breeds frustration amongst the fanbase, but the pain appears even more insufferable as it coincides with the unprecedented rise and success of cross-town rivals Manchester City. Since the Abu Dhabi United Group took over in 2008, City have won 18 major trophies including six Premier League titles, six EFL Cups and the FA Cup twice. They have also revamped their home stadium, youth academy and other key infrastructure. The lack of investment into Old Trafford, amongst a host of other matters, have distressed United fans, who believe the Glazers don’t understand the game of football and aren’t fit to run a club of this stature.
While criticism against the Glazers seems justified for how matters on the pitch have been handled at times, there’s no denying that they have had substantial success off the pitch, presenting the club in an even more attractive position today.
For starters, Manchester United arguably remains the most popular English club, attracting the most attention domestically, possibly even in the world. Whether it’s a positive or negative headline, the Red Devils will be at the forefront ahead of other clubs. This is evident on social media, where multiple topics related to the club are constantly trending. In addition, United are currently the most popular English club on Instagram with over 60 million followers. They also boast a strong presence on Twitter with over 34 million followers, only Real Madrid and Barcelona accounting for. This attention could be tied to the amount of success achieved under Sir Alex Ferguson, but even in these difficult times for the club, the publicity continues to grow.
These dark times have seen the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and the aforementioned Manchester City surpass the Red Devils over the past decade in terms of club accolades. Regardless, United’s fan base continues to grow- monopolizing marketing and commercial opportunities in countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, India and the United States.
Usually a series of disappointing performances on the pitch should translate to loss of/ underwhelming revenue figures. That however is not the case of Manchester United, who were still able to rack in $776 million during the 2021-22 season- second only to Barcelona ($1.02 billion) and attaining more than fellow European titans Bayern Munich ($647 million) and Real Madrid ($731 million).
One figure that had been constantly (and heavily) criticized under the Glazers ownership until his departure, was Ed Woodward. The investment banker took over from David Gil as the club’s Chief Executive in 2013 and was responsible for attracting immense sponsorship deals to the club worth more than $300 million in 2021-22. These sponsorships have had a colossal impact in improving the club’s finances considerably. Often accused of not making adequate footballing decisions for the club, Woodward’s reign ended acrimoniously, leaving promptly after the club withdrew from the proposed European Super League in wake of widespread condemnation.
The club have had to deal with accruing amounts of debt, which has irked United fans as well as drawn media criticism. The club’s debt currently stands at $580 million (barely in mind they were completely debt-free prior to the Glazers’ majority ownership). From inception, the Glazer’s takeover was funded by $1.2 billion debt. This isn’t necessarily the crux of the fans’ frustration, but more to do with the fact that the owners haven’t used the debt as growth capital- improvements on the stadium and academy facilities. Instead, Manchester United are currently the only Premier League club to pay shareholder dividends (with the Glazers taking home roughly $20 million annually in dividend payments) showcasing their habit of exploiting the club’s riches for their personal gain. By contrast, the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Aston Villa have pumped billions into their respective clubs. Despite these revelations, the Glazers would argue that in the last decade they have spent an estimated $1.3 billion on transfers- the most by any club in Europe. In addition, they have made efforts to lure the best coaches in world football to improve the club’s fortunes on the pitch, with the appointments of Louis van Gaal (2014-2016) and Jose Mourinho (2016-2018).
United’s failures in the last decade has naturally impacted their performance in the transfer market, with the club unsuccessfully luring in certain key targets. Sergio Ramos notoriously subbed the club in 2013 during David Moyes’ brief tenure when the club were desperate for a leading central defender. More recently, midfielder Frenkie de Jong turned down a move to Old Trafford despite his parent club Barcelona seemingly eager to offload the Dutchman to aid their financial woes. Ultimately, the club’s heritage and status are simply too big to ignore, with United reminding the world in recent seasons that they still have the ‘flex’ to lure the high-profile players in world football like: Angel Di Maria, Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo, Casemiro, Raphael Varane and many others. Most of these stars failed to live up to expectations during their spells, but this ultimately serves as a testament to Manchester United’s influence and financial prowess in the game. It also serves as a reminder to the anti-Glazer faction that the club must be in a relatively financially healthy situation if it could still possess such leverage, despite evidently falling from grace.
In spite of the club’s commercial boom under their tenure, the Glazers recently released a statement saying they were evaluating options and seeking alternatives for the club’s growth.
“The strength of Manchester United rests on the passion and loyalty of our global community of 1.1 billion fans and followers. As we seek to continue building on the club’s history of success, the board has authorized a thorough evaluation of strategic alternatives.” Avram Glazer and Joel Glazer said in the statement.
“We will evaluate all options to ensure that we best serve our fans and that Manchester United maximizes the significant growth opportunities available to the club today and in the future.”
While the above statement is not an outright admission of wanting to sell the club, there is every suggestion that relinquishing their ownership stake is among the strategic alternatives. Whilst some have suggested that this move was prompted by Ronaldo’s scathing revelations about the club, in truth there are likely to be more logical reasons behind this decision. Last week, Fenway Sports Group, the owners of Liverpool, announced they were considering putting the club up for sale after 12 years of ownership, amassing eight major trophies during that span, including a Champions League triumph in 2018/2019 and a Premier League title the following season- ending an enduring 30- year wait. We might well be witnessing a race to secure the biggest club sale in sports history.
Additionally, the Glazers could be of the belief that they have put the club in a very attractive position that will suit a potential buyer that has more financial power. Manchester United are currently valued at around £5 billion and will be put on the sale for as much as £10 billion if the right investor comes. It is reported that consortiums from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, tech giants Apple, as well as British chemical engineering tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe, are interested in taking over the club.
The Glazers will always remain a disliked figure at Manchester United and while it might appear like they inflicted more pain than delight (to the supporters), they have at least put the club in a very tantalizing position from which a potential buyer can elevate and handsomely recoup their investment.
