"Plainly obvious..." - Gary Neville makes Man Utd takeover claim as potential reason for sale delay given

Manchester United legend Gary Neville accused the Glazer family of "unprofessional" behaviour as the club's takeover saga lingers on.

Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe have been locked in a battle to take over United for months.

The former, a Qatari banker, is said to have placed a £5billion-plus bid for a 100 per cent stake in the Premier League giants. However, the offer still falls short of the Glazer’s £6billion valuation.

Meanwhile, Ratcliffe, who is Britain’s second richest man courtesy of his petrochemicals company Ineos, allegedly submitted an offer for a majority stake in the club.

However, the Briton’s offer also allegedly allows for controversial co-owners Joel and Avram Glazer to maintain some connection with the club via a minority stake.

Should the takeover process, which is entering its seventh month, conclude with the Glazers remaining at United in any capacity, it would anger a large contingent of the fanbase that have long called for the Americans to end their association with the club.

Neville makes Glazers claim

Neville claimed that the Glazers were waiting until the end of the season before announcing an update on United's takeover race so to minimise backlash from United fans.

In a tweet, Neville said: "[It's] plainly obvious the Glazer family aren’t going to announce anything on the ownership until the season is closed!

"They’ve been spinning it out unprofessionally for weeks and months now. They know fan protests would have been more significant than they already have if matches were still being played and the end result of the sale process is unpopular.

"Basically any family members staying in would be deemed unacceptable by all fans. Is this why they’re holding off?"

The Glazers bought United back in 2005 in a deeply unpopular deal that was predominantly financed through loans secured against the club's assets.

Their subsequent 18 years in charge have been marked by off-field chaos and unprecedented footballing decline.

Topics: Football, Gary Neville, Manchester United, Premier League, Transfers

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.