Gary Neville has warned that there is “no perfect answer” regarding which Manchester United bidder is the best for the club and insists it “wouldn’t bother” him if either Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani or Sir Jim Ratcliffe won the takeover race.
Both parties submitted second buy bids for United last month with Sheikh Al-Thani wishing to take over the whole club while Ratcliffe is vying for the Glazers’ 69 per cent majority share.
Neville said both bidders have shortfalls but also outlined what both would bring to United if successful in their respective offers. Speaking on The Overlap, the ex-United defender said: “Between the two bidders, if either of them won, it wouldn’t bother me. We can’t control it, it wouldn’t bother me.
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“I don’t want the American money at all. Jim is only buying 69 per cent of the club so he’s still going to have the debt in the club of £500m and he’s still going to have the New York Stock Exchange of 31 per cent.
“That’s my concern with that one, that we’ve got a stock exchange in America, so that is a negative. However, Jim’s a local guy, been a United fan and to be fair would do a really good job for the club.”
Regarding Sheikh Jassim's bid, Neville added: “The Qataris would come in and build a new stadium straight away, they’ll wipe out all the shareholders, they will never take dividends or debt but obviously people have to live with the fact that they might be a state-owned connection, which people don’t like as well. So there’s no perfect answer here.”
He went on to underline: “I would like either of them to buy the club away from the Glazer family. If Jim comes in, I want him to straight away find someone else to partner with him to take out the 31 per cent in New York and pay off the debt, he has to do that straight away I think.”
Other bidders in the takeover race include Finnish businessman Thomas Zilliacus with US hedge fund giants Elliott Investment Management also reportedly in the picture, albeit only regarding investment and not a full takeover.
Neville says he would be opposed to the latter proposal and fears that the Glazers may stay after the Manchester Evening News revealed that Joel and Avram Glazer are exploring the option of buying out their other four siblings on the United board.
Neville said: “My main concern is them [Glazers] not selling. This Elliott group keeps popping up every three or four days - to me that feels like a plant by the Glazers to stay in, in terms of if they don’t get what they want and that private investment money comes in from America and they stay.
“Joel and Avi are two we do know who want to stay in… but they’ve got to go now. They can’t afford to run the club.” He added: “I don’t like the US model, the idea of borrowing four or five billion from America, bringing it in.
“There’s investment return wanted on that money and if an investment company like Elliott comes into United for four/five billion quid, I feel like we’re going to be in the same position in a few years' time.”
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