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United owner Malcolm Glazer is plotting a huge new financial deal that will pay off the club's debts but also "mortgage its future" according to opponents of the American tycoon.
M.E.N. Sport understands United are set to almost double the £254m of debt sitting against the club's name - but in return will be able to get rid of the current high-interest loans which would have led the club into a debt minefield.
But opponents of the Glazer regime believe the moves will further reduce the club's chances of competing with Chelsea and Real Madrid in the transfer market, and will lead to further ticket price rises and maybe even a push to form a European super league.
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"The Glazers have done the equivalent of taking Carol Vorderman's advice and consolidated their loans," says Colin Hendrie of the Independent Manchester United Supporters Association (IMUSA).
The Glazers paid for their takeover by borrowing £254m from investment bankers JP Morgan, a loan secured against the club's assets, and around £275m from US-based "hedge funds" and secured against the family's own assets.
Now, according to Wall Street sources, the American tycoon and his family are planning to take out a loan, as high as £500m and possibly over a 25-year period, in the form of bonds to be sold to a bank or other financial institution.
That money would be used to pay off the JP Morgan debt and a sizeable chunk of the hedge fund debt - which has interest rates as high as 20 per cent - and leave them with more manageable interest rates of six per cent or less.
Anti-Glazer fan groups argue that the new United loans will leave less money for incoming player transfers, increasing the risk that United will not qualify for
Says Hendrie: "By releasing bonds they're just borrowing new money to pay off old loans. The debt is still there, it hasn't gone away.
"Every penny that is paid in interest or used to pay back the outstanding loans is money that can't be spent on players. The playing staff has been cut to the bone, just at a time when real investment is needed.
"The fans want success for the team.
"In days gone by, the money raised by ticket price rises would have been used to finance that success. The Glazers' big gamble is on whether the fans they have turned into customers will keep coming back when ticket prices keep rising and the team is no longer doing as well as it once did."
A spokesman for the Glazers denied that any re-financing deal has been struck, but said: "By the end of the year there will be some form of re-financing".
M.E.N. Sport understands that a major UK bank has already been approached to handle the matter - and the favourites appear to be Royal Bank of
The deal would involve United channelling some of their revenue streams - such as income from executive boxes, from food outlet franchising or from ticket sales - into repaying the new loan.
Critics of the Glazer regime believe it will lead to further ticket price hikes, and maybe even a push for a European super league, as a means of increasing revenue.