Sky Sports journalist Kaveh Solhekol has earned praise from Manchester United supporters after he analysed the Glazer family's ownership of the club in an eye-opening segment on live TV.
The Glazer family took control of United in 2005 with more than £500 million debt.
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In the coming years, many have called on the owners to sell up. In fact, ahead of their opening day defeat to Brighton on Sunday afternoon, thousands of fans held a protest against the ownership while en route to Old Trafford.
After the full-time whistle, former United right-back Gary Neville called on the Glazers to go.
"The time has come for the Glazer family to sell the football club," he told Sky Sports. "It's now. They are the easiest team to play against in the league - that's a massive worry."
United have signed Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia in this summer's transfer window to try and revitalise the squad under new management.
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And in some transfer business that has raised plenty of eyebrows over the recruitment process, Adrien Rabiot and Marko Arnautovic have been earmarked as potential additions.
But despite the appointment of Erik ten Hag, and the three new signings, lingering doubts over United's ownership remain.
Earlier this week, Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol made some stinging comments about the Glazer ownership which have gone viral online.
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He began: “Talking about that performance [2-1 loss vs Brighton] and where United are at the moment, you can’t get away from the ownership issue,” Solhekol said.
“I’ve said this before and I’ll keep saying it… under the current owners, this is what United are going to be like. Because the way they bought the club and the way they loaded debt onto the club, and the way the club has to pay those debts off, means that United are going to fall further and further behind very well run clubs like Manchester City, Liverpool, PSG, Chelsea… where you’ve got owners that put money in, not owners who take money out.
“Fifteen years ago the Glazer family borrowed £600 million to buy Manchester United. Fifteen years later that debt is still £600 million and it’s been loaded onto the club."
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Solhekol added: "The takeover has ended up costing Manchester United somewhere between £1.5 and £2 billion. That is money that has gone out of the club, so it’s not surprising that Manchester United are the state they’re in.
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“Yes, for a while when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge, he almost papered over the cracks. He made United winners. They won the Premier League title and Champions League.
“But long term, what you’re seeing yesterday is a direct result of the ownership model at Manchester United.
“That ownership model would no longer be allowed in English football. It’s not allowed in American Football. You can’t have leveraged buyouts. But unfortunately, Manchester United are saddled with it."
After a short break, he added: "Just to go back to this ownership issue, you look at Chelsea, they’ve got new owners. Chelsea was put up for sale. The Raine Group, the investment bank in New York, they had more than 100 parties who were interested in buying Chelsea.
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“Finally, the Todd Boehly consortium bought the club for something like £3 billion. And look at what Todd Boehly is doing at Chelsea, signing Raheem Sterling and [Kalidou] Koulibaly, going for [Wesley] Fofana… those are the sort of players Manchester United should be signing.
“There are people out there who want to buy Premier League clubs, who have the money to buy Premier League clubs.
“Until this debt issue is sorted out, I don’t think Manchester United are ever going to get back to the level they were at before the Glazers arrived. Clubs like Manchester City, PSG, Liverpool are now lightyears – lightyears! – ahead of Manchester United.
“Look at the league table last season, City finished 35 points above Manchester United, they’re almost in a different league.
"You look at the way City operate. How many years is it going to take for United to overtake City again? I’m not sure it’ll happen unless there’s a chance in the ownership structure because the money that’s been taken out of Manchester United is the reason they’re in the state they’re in today.”
Here are Solhekol's comments in full:
Thoughts on the current situation at Manchester United?
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Featured Image Credit: Sky SportsTopics: Manchester United, Sky Sports, Premier League, Brighton And Hove Albion
