Former Goldman Sachs chief economist Lord Jim O'Neill has admitted he would consider forming a consortium to mount a second takeover bid of Manchester United.
O'Neill first tried to buy United 12 years ago when he was the architect of the Red Knights consortium. Alongside hedge fund manager Sir Paul Marshall, he was behind the Red Knights campaign in 2010, which mounted a £1.25billion bid for the club.
Ultimately, they decided the takeover would not succeed, with the Glazers maintaining control of the Premier League giants. Now though, the Americans have put the Red Devils up for sale, with an official announcement coming on Tuesday night.
That has piqued the interest of O'Neill, who has now admitted that he would be open to exploring a fresh move. But he did admit that it would be difficult for such a deal to be successful.
"If I thought I could be part of some really value-based, purpose-based, better ownership of United, I would, but it would be very, very difficult," he told the Manchester Evening News.
"I don’t want to put myself through everything that happened 12 years ago unless I think the chances of success are strong and going into it I think it’s very hard.
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"The only thing that will really work is some imaginative buyer who basically has a better purpose behind owning United and is prepared to pay the Glazers a lot of money. You can think of the number of people willing to do that in the world on less than one hand."
United have employed The Raine Group to help advise on any sale, after their work with Chelsea last season. The Blues were ultimately sold to a consortium led by Todd Boehly for £2.5bn in May.
And O'Neill believes a similar auction-style sale will take place for United, with the Glazers slapping a £5bn price tag on the club. But O'Neill believes a sale in that region is unrealistic as he admitted he is unsurprised United are up for sale.
"[Those figures are] obviously what they’re floating, but I don’t think that’s realistic, especially as the few smart people that might be vaguely capable of putting those kinds of sums together can see the same information the Glazers can see," O'Neill added.
"Anybody who has been in business and thinks of ownership of assets that people want, you don’t need to go to a public statement to attract buyers at a premium. As the years progressed I'm not surprised, if you look at the culmination of events starting with the fiasco over the ESL, their ownership had got more complicated in their own heads I think.
"I think they think Chelsea was bought for too high a price and United should be a premium. Now they’re slightly strangely and slightly desperately in my view, going so public that they can capture anybody who is daft enough to pay them the money they want."
