Manchester United hostile takeover bid moving forward as planned, says Knighton

Old Trafford Manchester United
Old Trafford Manchester United

Michael Knighton has claimed that his “hostile bid” to remove the Glazers from Manchester United and complete a takeover is “moving forward”.

The unpopular American family who owns a major share in the club have lost the support of the majority of the United fans who have continued to protest against their management of the Old Trafford side. 

The disgruntled fan base have made it clear repeatedly that they want to see changes made at the boardroom level. 

Those protests have led to attempts by several people to buy the club off the family. One such person is Knighton, who came close to acquiring the Red Devils back in 1989. He along with Britain’s richest man, Sir James Ratcliffe, are making efforts to wrestle control of Premier League heavyweights away from the family that has been in power since 2005.

The English businessman posted on social media; “Thank you ALL for the wonderful messages of support. There is much going on behind the scenes. Things are moving forward as planned. I apologise I can’t be on this platform more, just bogged down in meetings. God bless & every good wish to all of you. Your support is greatly appreciated.”

Meanwhile, given that the club has not officially been put up for sale, efforts to put a takeover in place at United are being complicated, with the Glazers prepared to stand their ground.

However, Knighton previously told Man Utd The Religion via Goal, of attempts to force the issue: “We are a club in crisis and we all know the reason why. We have an inept and frankly useless ownership who know little about this game of football. 

“Everyone knows that we need new ownership of this football club and that is my aim and those are my objective. I am making good progress, continuing to talk to the people, I have got some good pledges and good finance. 

“We are now working on the offer document. Remember, it is a hostile bid – that simply means that the club isn’t officially for sale. But my intention is to present these owners with a legitimate, potent and commercial offer to say: ‘You have run out of road, it’s time (to) go because your time is up.”