The Glazers look set to remain in charge of Manchester United for some time to come, after Sir Jim Ratcliffe pulled out of his move to buy the Red Devils.
The billionaire had stated his intentions to explore a possible deal to takeover the Premier League giants from the American family. United fans have long made their opposition to the current regime clear, amid a long trophy drought.
The Glazers have been approached several times by interested parties looking to take the Red Devils off their hands. And while it is understood they would accept a ludicrous bid in the region of £9billion, a takeover on those grounds appear nigh-on impossible.
Here, Mirror Football takes a look at those who have attempted to buy United from the unpopular Americans and failed.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe
The most recent of the interested suitors was Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the chief executive of chemical giant Ineos. Ratcliffe is one of Britain's richest men, with an estimated net worth of more than £20billion.
He had tried to buy Chelsea in May but failed, turning his attention to United as a result, having already taken control of Ligue 1 side Nice. The 69-year-old held talks with Joel and Avram Glazer, but was ultimately forced to back away after it became clear they were unwilling to sell.
"It is owned by the six children of the father and they don't want to sell. If it had been for sale in the summer, yes, we would probably have had a go following on from the Chelsea thing. But we can't sit around hoping that one day Manchester United will become available," he told the Financial Times Live conference.
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Saudi Arabian state
Before they decided to takeover Newcastle, the Saudi Arabian state was interested in buying out the Glazers. Rumours began flying in the second-half of 2019 that the Middle East country was looking to take control of a Premier League football club.
They saw three bids turned down by the Glazers, with the Saudis willing to put up £3bn to buy them out. The Glazers stood firm and refused to sell though, despite Saudi sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal making it clear they were interested.
“Anything is possible in the future. Now we are focused on developing the local scene and we have invested a lot of money in football clubs within the kingdom," he told the BBC before they eventually gave up their interest.
Michael Knighton
Former director Michael Knighton has, in recent months, launched a hostile takeover of United. Knighton has been heavily critical of the Glazers' ownership and has now claimed he is the face of an attempt to buy the Red Devils.
While he has claimed progress is being made behind the scenes, little evidence of that can be found. That has not stopped him blasting the Glazers though, insisting United are in "crisis".
“We are a club in crisis and we all know the reason why. We have an inept and frankly useless ownership who know little about this game of football. I am making good progress, continuing to talk to the people, I have got some good pledges and good finance," he told Man Utd The Religion.
Conor McGregor
A long-standing supporter of United, UFC superstar Conor McGregor has publicly claimed he wants to buy the club. McGregor has several business interests besides his fighting career, though he would struggle to stump up the case needed to buy out the Glazers.
The Irishman could of course have been joking about his desire to buy the Red Devils, which he made clear amid the fallout of the Super League debacle. But after being questioned on social media, he insisted he was serious.
“Hey guys, I’m thinking about buying Manchester United! What do you think? I am certainly interested in acquiring a sports team at some stage! But I am open. I feel I could do big things for a club," McGregor tweeted, though that interest has yet to come to anything.
Elon Musk
Tesla founder Elon Musk sparked a Twitter frenzy back in August when he claimed that he would be buying Manchester United. Musk's announcement came after the Red Devils had suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat to Brentford in the Premier League.
Following that loss, the billionaire tweeted: "I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome." One of the world's richest men, Musk certainly has the cash to buy out the Glazers, but he was quickly forced to admit that he had only been joking.
"No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I’m not buying any sports teams. Standup is my side-hustle. Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U. They were my fav team as a kid," he later tweeted.
The unnamed trio
Just two years after the Glazers took charge at United, news broke that a trio of billionaires were looking to take over the club. The Observer claimed that the three bidders were all making separate moves to buy the club.
Their identities were not revealed, besides the fact they were Russian, European and Middle Eastern. It was claimed that the bids would start at £600m, with the trio seeking advice on how to proceed, though United insisted that talk of a takeover was "pure speculation".
