• Football

Red Knights can meet £1.5 bn United asking price

Soccernet staff
March 5, 2010
Manchester United won the Carling Cup on Sunday © Getty Images
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The Red Knights, a group of city financiers working on a possible takeover over Manchester United, have insisted they have the resources to meet the Glazers' £1.2 billion asking price for the club.

ESPNsoccernet revealed on Thursday that a £1 billion offer for United, from one of the world's richest men, had been rejected by the Glazers, with the current owners determined to hold onto the club.

The Glazers are thought to value the club at closer to £1.5 billion but it is thought that an offer of £1.2 billion would be enough to get the Glazers thinking, and the Red Knights are confident that they have enough investment to raise that substantial figure.

"We thought we had 40 investors - well, it is already 60," one of the Knights told the Times.

The Red Knights have garnered massive support among United's fans, with membership of the Manchester United Supporters' Trust (MUST) doubling in a day after the Knights announced their plan to attempt a takeover earlier this week.

Duncan Drasdo, the chief executive of MUST, told the Times: "The growth rate is absolutely phenomenal. MUST now has more campaign members than the official Manchester United membership scheme."

Though the Glazers have insisted time and again that they will not sell, the Red Knights are adamant that they will prise the club away from the Americans and back into the hands of United fans.

And the Knights are set to meet on Friday to examine a list of potential big-money applicants ready to support a buyout, meaning that a bid for the club from the group remains a real prospect.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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