Man Utd co-owner Avram Glazer issues answer on selling up as Jim Ratcliffe faces scrutiny | Football | Sport

Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer has issued an update on his family’s involvement with the Premier League side.

The Glazer family have been involved with United in some capacity since 2005, but following the partial takeover by INEOS two years ago, they’ve taken a step back from football operations.

However, it was announced on Wednesday that United’s revenues for the final three months of 2024 had dropped to £198.7million – a decrease of 12 per cent.

Across the same time period in 2023, their revenues had stood at £225.8m instead, whereas their operating profit for the year’s final financial quarter was £27.5m lower.

It comes after £14.5m was spent on sacking Erik ten Hag and his coaching staff, as well as hiring and then later sacking sporting director Dan Ashworth within five months of joining.

Meanwhile United have made over 200 redundancies as they look to cut costs and have also raised the price of tickets to £66 per match, with no concessions on offer to children or pensioners.

It’s piled the pressure on Ratcliffe and INEOS and turned attention to their existing relationship with the Glazer family.

During an on-the-street interview with Sky Sports, the American businessman was asked if he or his family had any plans to sell up.

Walking out of what appeared to be a hotel, he replied: “I’m on my way to see the president right now I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about it right now.”

After some insistence from the reporter, Glazer eventually responded: “No,” when pushed on their intentions to keep a stake in United.

Fans of the Red Devils have been long-time opponents of the Glazer family and have held several protests challenging their ownership in the past.

But the arrival of INEOS has done little to repair the relationship between the fans and the club.

In a statement following the recent financial announcement, the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust said: “United has amongst the highest revenues in world football and yet we see huge financial problems in these results, driven by £19m in debt interest payments (over six months), mismanagement including paying £14.5m compensation to a manager only given a new contract a few months earlier, a disastrous record in player trading over the last decade, and now dreadful performances on the field making matters worse with every league place we fall costing a further £4m in prize money…

“Fans should not pay the price for a problem that starts with our crippling debt interest payments and is exacerbated by a decade or more of mismanagement. It’s time to freeze ticket prices and allow everyone – players, management, owners and fans – to get behind United and restore this club to where it belongs.”