One looks back in sorrow to the summer of 2005 when the Glazers came to Manchester United. We all knew at the time it was a disaster but the full effects of the takeover have only begun to be felt in the more recent past. For a while it appeared as if United might get away with it. Premier league title wins in 2007, 2008, 2009 and the champion’s league win in 2008 made it look as if nothing had changed. But behind the football the finances told the story of an impending tragedy. Interest repayments at 16.25% were always going to be a recipe for disaster and the situation has been further accelerated by the loss of their best player Cristiano Ronaldo.
Uniteds current team is mediocre and with the impending retirement of their best players the outlook is bleak. United only has one truly world class player, Wayne Rooney, and we are all aware of his recent problems.
The fact is people like to support winners. All these great deals United is making with international sponsors won’t mean anything in a few years if United is languishing in mid table. 470 million followers won’t hang around for long. And fans also support a team because of individuals, a Kobe Bryant, Lionel Messi or David Beckham. This is why Cristiano Ronaldo was worth £80 million. It’s why Wayne Rooney is so important to United. His recent failures both on and off the pitch have hurt United. Luckily they have just managed to keep hold of him. There is no doubt his future success is crucial to that of United’s.
United is such a strong brand that they should eventually recover. There are probably thousands of people queuing up to buy Manchester United. But every day the Glazers cling on United is damaged further and any future recovery is made that much harder. United are bleeding, both in terms of money and reputation. The situation is made more urgent by the rise of well-funded rivals Manchester City. If only United could go bust or get taken over now the damage would be limited. Alas the club is in a cruel position whereby it is just about able to service its debt but has no money left for badly needed investment.
Unfortunately with their current team and impending retirements I can’t see United winning anything important in the near future. One can only feel sorry for the real United fans at this difficult time.
By James Yardley.