'With the FA Cup Final over, Malcolm Glazer and his sons embark this week on a calculated and controlled PR campaign to win over those resistant to their takeover of Manchester United. The charm offensive will start with an open letter from Joel Glazer, Malcolm’s son, who is fronting the bid, about plans to maintain the success of the club on and off the pitch.
Watching United lose to Arsenal on penalties on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Cardiff from their Florida home has not dampened the Glazers’ enthusiasm for their new asset.
An offer document, posted to the shareholders yet to sell to the new owners, will reveal details of the £540 million debt-financing package that is the fans’ biggest cause for concern. The capital structure is thought to mean initial average interest payments of 7 per cent, bringing the annual cost of servicing debt to nearly £19 million. United were previously a debt-free club.
The document will also confirm that David Gill, the United chief executive, Nick Humby, the finance director, and the rest of the management team are to stay on to implement the Glazers’ controversial business plan. Gill was particularly dubious about their proposals to increase significantly commercial revenues.
But the Glazers are not reckless enough to clear out the people most familiar with the business. Nor are they likely to lose the services of the most successful manager in English football. After his team’s defeat, Sir Alex Ferguson was already talking like a man who expects to be planning for a long-term future when he returns from his summer holiday. Advisers to the Glazers have always maintained that the changes at Old Trafford will not be as radical as fans fear. The UK market is not where they see the money to be made: it is in Asia and the United States. It is in turning United’s estimated 70 million fans around the world into paying customers. At present, those who go to Old Trafford provide the bulk of the income. Ironically, the furore created by the Glazer takeover has served only to raise the club’s worldwide profile.
The Glazers have shown themselves to care less about what the fans think and more about their personal ambitions. They should fit right in to English football.'