Glazer family slap £4 billion price tag on Manchester United amid fan protests

Fans demonstrated outside Old Trafford on Saturday

The Glazer family, who own Manchester United, have put a £4 billion price tag on the club, according to the Mirror. The family are under huge pressure to sell the club after their role in the short-lived Super League that collapsed in the face of global outrage at the start of the week. United's custodians have never been popular in Manchester. Ever since their leveraged buy-out of the club in 2005 that brought with it huge amounts of debt, the Americans have been criticised for a lack of investment and general direction regarding on-pitch matters. Hundreds of United fans gathered outside Old Trafford on Saturday to demand the sale of the club, letting off green and yellow flares and singing anti-Glazer chants. But it will take a whopping £4 billion for the family to relinquish control of the club that cost them £790 million 16 years ago, the Mirror are reporting. United has effectively been a cash cow for the Glazers, who take dividends out of the club every year while debts stay high, signing every sponsorship deal on the table. It is that commercial power that makes the Glazers believe the club is worth so much money, reports suggest. For United fans, a sale would be reason to celebrate, but swapping one billionaire family for another is no guarantee of a complete overhaul in the boardroom. Ultimately, something has to change from top to bottom if football is going to begin the healing process from the damage caused by decades of unregulated hyper capitalism.