Red Knights 'to drop £1bn Man Utd bid'

A consortium of businessmen tipped as possible buyers of Manchester United will shelve plans to make an offer, a report says.

The Red Knights were expected to make a bid of about £1bn in the coming weeks.

But the Sunday Times said this had been put on ice after investors baulked at the club's valuation.



 Manchester United has said it is not for sale and that the Glazer family owners would "not entertain any offers". The Glazers are said to value the club at £1.5bn.

The paper cited sources close to the Red Knights saying that the club's debts, the lack of money spent on players in recent years and rumours of manager Sir Alex Ferguson being close to retirement meant there was "a lot more downside than upside".

Revenues increased

 On Friday the club announced a cut in debt from £543.3m a year ago to £520.9m for the January to March period. In Man Utd's quarterly financial results, the figures also showed net assets of £794.9m and a cash balance of £95.9m.

The Old Trafford club said that in the nine months to March, year-on-year revenues were up 13.5% from £193.3m to £219.3m. It also reported that quarterly match-day, commercial and media revenues had increased on three months ago. However, losses for the quarter were up from £5.87m to £65.94m, mostly relating to various financing charges and costs.

Debts

 Manchester United was bought by the Glazer family for £800m in 2005. In the 2009/10 season the club finished second to Chelsea in the Premier League. They were also knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter finals, and have ended the season relatively unsuccessfully by their standards, winning only the League Cup.

Critics say the family has saddled United with massive debts, and the Red Knights have said that one of their priorities is to reduce debt levels. Earlier this year the club launched a seven-year £538m bond that enabled them to refinance much of their more costly debt.

Fans have launched a campaign to oust the Glazers, many boycotting the traditional red shirts and scarves and instead wearing green and gold, the original colours of Newton Heath, the amateur side which was founded in 1878 and became Manchester United.
However, the club does not believe it has fully maximised its revenue streams from global commercial opportunities.

Berbatov not leaving United, says Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson has said that striker Dimitar Berbatov will not be leaving Manchester United this summer.

Dimitar Berbatov has struggled for form this season.

Berbatov scored just 12 Premier League goals during the campaign and came under-fire for a series of below-par performances. Reports had suggested that United were willing to cut their losses on the £30.75 million Bulgarian, but Ferguson has now insisted that Berbatov remains a key part of his first-team plans.
"No, he will not - definitely not (be sold). There's a problem with Manchester United in terms of expectation and media attention," Ferguson told The Mirror. "There's speculation every year and we've got to live with that hype. We know Dimitar is a good player and he will be with us next year."

Ferguson has already said that he is not anticipating a major overhaul of the playing staff during the summer months as United attempt to re-take the trophy from Chelsea.

"We don't have a great deal to improve on. The one area of concern last season was that we had 16 players missing through injury,'' he added. "That impacts on the stability of the team as the season develops. But we always felt that when our back four was in place there was a sense of purpose and strength."
Ferguson also praised the Glazer family, who own the club, for the constant support despite much criticism.

''They've been great owners,'' he told Toronto radio station FAN 590. ''They have supported me every way I've asked them.

''There's no other reason to think they haven't supported me. If you look at any time I've wanted a player they've provided the money; if you look at what we've done this season - and people don't recognise this - we've spent over £20 million on young players.

''We've bought Chris Smalling, Mame Diouf and Javier Hernandez. People don't realise how we're structured and how we see our future of the club. We've always based it on a nucleus and foundation of young players developing in the club.''

Sir Alex Ferguson fears for Manchester United's World Cup players

• United manager says Ferdinand, Rooney and co will need rest
• Ferguson to oversee review of injury-plagued season

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Sir Alex Ferguson says he is very happy with the Glazer family's position as Manchester United owners. Photograph: Bebeto Matthews/AP

Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and several other Manchester United players will miss the start of the season because of their involvement in the World Cup and said there will be a review at Old Trafford to investigate why the club has suffered so many injuries over the last year.
Ferguson is so alarmed by the injury record that he has held a series of meetings with the club's medical staff, their conclusion being that several players, Rooney included, are being overworked because of the gruelling demands of combining domestic football with representing their countries. "The big area of concern for us is that we had 16 players who missed more than six weeks through injury," Ferguson said, reflecting on the season just gone and United relinquishing the Premier League title to Chelsea. "We have been looking for the reasons for that ever since the season ended."

His decision is that those members of the squad returning from South Africa this summer – United could have eight players involved, including three-quarters of their usual defence in Ferdinand, Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic – will be given almost a month to recover before even starting their pre-season training.
"The World Cup will be draining for all the players involved," Ferguson said. "It is the biggest tournament of their lives and we will be giving all of the players who are involved a 28-day rest after the last game. We will begin the season without them. That is the plan."

That means in theory that, if England were to reach the final, on 11 July, the players would not be expected to start their training for the new campaign until 8 August, the day the 2010-11 season begins with the Community Shield against Chelsea at Wembley. From that point it may be three weeks before they are considered ready to play, possibly even longer for Ferdinand considering his long-standing back issues, a problem he has been told could flare up at any time.

Ferguson will also be mindful not to rush back Rooney, bearing in mind what happened when he did that towards the end of the season, the striker re-aggravating an ankle injury and then damaging the abductor muscle at the top of his leg.

Ferguson, speaking on the Fan 590 radio station in Toronto while promoting the club's pre-season tour to Canada, the United States and Mexico, went on to reiterate that there were no plans to offload Dimitar Berbatov after a season in which the Bulgarian's form has divided opinion among supporters. "We definitely won't sell Berbatov," he said. "He will be with us next year."
Of possible incomings the United manager argued that the Glazer family were being unfairly accused of not making money available for him in the transfer market. "They have been great owners and there's no reason to think otherwise. They have supported me every time I have asked them and we have already spent £20m on young players. Chris Smalling cost us £10m, [Mame Biram] Diouf was £4m and the Mexican [Javier Hernández] was more than £6m. Because we are not signing signature players people think we are not moving forward – but we are."

Many supporters would dispute this after five years in which the Glazers are calculated to have lost the club £437m in interest payments and other fees but Ferguson said the Florida-based family were running United in a sensible way by not following the pay structure at clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City.
"There must be concern about the level of salaries in the game," he said. "There's a lot of greed, particularly when owners have come in from Russia, America and the Middle East and there's a need for them to do well. Salary caps are not going to come into their domain; it doesn't enter their thinking."

Foster: Move can boost England hopes

Ben Foster believes his move to Birmingham can kickstart his
international career.

The 27-year-old signed a three-year deal with Blues on Wednesday after leaving Manchester United in search of more first-team opportunities.
Foster told Blues TV: "I look forward to playing first-team football and that's hopefully what I'll be getting here. As long as things go well for me, and hopefully they will, I'll be knocking on the England door again."
He added: "People say I have left Manchester United but I definitely don't see it as a step back.

"I am really excited and think it is a big step forward for me to be playing first-team football in the Premier League.
"I love playing football and training is good but for me something needs to be there at the end of the week."

Foster hopes to fill the void left by Joe Hart, who has returned to Manchester City after an impressive season on loan at St Andrew's.

Foster, who himself spent two seasons on loan at Watford after first joining United, said: "Joe did absolutely fantastic last season. It was great for him to get out on loan and play in the first team.

"It is exactly what I need. I have had three years at United in and out of the team, not playing too regularly. It is a fantastic opportunity for me now to play regular football.
"I'm 27 - in terms of goalkeeping, fairly young. I'd like to think I've got a few years ahead of me yet. It is an exciting time of my career."

Red Knights unlikely to make bid for Man United

The Red Knights have "unofficially" decided against making a bid to buy Manchester United from the Glazer family.

Publicly, the Red Knights continue to suggest that they will battle, but one insider has broken ranks to voice fears that an offer will never get off the ground, as it would be rejected out of hand in any case.
A source close to the consortium confirmed to Soccernet that the Red Knights would only ever offer £1 billion for the Old Trafford club, which falls short of the £1.5 billion valuation the Glazers are said to have put on the world's most prized football club.

The City of London operative said: "The Red Knights offer was virtually dead in the water the moment it was leaked months ago. If the Red Knights have had the chance to quietly present their case to the Glazers, it might have been a different story, who knows? But the way it leaked out, made it appear a hostile bid, and aggressive approach and it was never going to succeed that way.

"The leaking of a so-called bid for £1.5 billion clearly sent out the signal that the club was not for sale, and that the Red Knights were wasting their time. The Red Knights would never have offered more than £1 billion so it is never going to be worth even making a bid, so in my view there will not be one now."
Alongside Goldman Sachs chief economist and former United director Jim O'Neill, former Football League chairman Keith Harris, of investment bank Seymour Pierce, has been the most public face of Red Knights but when asked whether he would now make an official comment about the status of a bid, the City insider added: "That is highly unlikely. But there seems little prospect of the Red Knights mowing forward with an offer, that is for sure."

Soccernet broke the story that the Glazers turned down £1.5 billion at the turn of the year from a Middle East consortium and one from China. Since then, it has been widely reported in the UK media that there was a £1.5 billion offer, but Soccernet sources have confirmed the bid was actually for £1.2 billion cash, and that indications were that a £1.5 billlion cash offer could entice the Glazers to think about selling.
In opposition to that view of any potential bid, other sources close to the affair have suggested that the Red Knights are continuing to work towards lodging a bid and that getting in excess of 40 wealthy individuals to not only put their money to such an ambitious project, but also agree a unified plan of attack was always likely to be fraught with difficulty, especially considering some recent logistical issues.

Travel problems caused by the volcanic ash escaping from Iceland are said to have prevented the main players being able to be in the same room together yet "talks have been going better than ever and are progressing very positively", a Red Knights source told the Press Association.
Whatever the truth of either viewpoint it appears that, for the time being, the "not for sale" sign remains firmly up at Old Trafford as the Glazer family publicly retain their standpoint of being committed to owning the club and maximising its commercial capabilities.