Mihir Bose in the Telegraph:
‘Malcolm Glazer's advisers are optimistic that they can now make an offer to buy Manchester United which the club's board will not be able to refuse. Backing from the board will make it easy to take over United.
‘In the past the board, while conceding that the American business tycoon's 300p-a-share offer is a fair price, have rejected it on the grounds that it is bad for United, saddling the club with too much debt.
‘Tomorrow his advisers will give Cazenove, United's City advisers, revised proposals which will still offer 300p per share but will feature a number of sweeteners, including £22 million to be made available to Sir Alex Ferguson to buy players.
‘The new proposals will also reassure the board that Glazer and his family do not want to run the day-to-day management of the club, the existing board and their management team can remain intact, though his son, Joel, and one other person may join the board.
‘The submission of the proposals will start a period of intense negotiations for a couple of weeks, at the end of which the Glazer camp hope to come out with a board recommendation to support the bid.’
The board would do well to remember the broken promises that have characterised Glazer’s business life when they consider his reassurance that they will still have their jobs should he take over. They will also be aware of course that they will still have to live and work within the Greater Manchester area, and that many fans will not forgive treachery.