Red Knights not to offer more than 1-bn dollars to Man U owners

LONDON - The Red Knights, a group of wealthy Manchester United fans, have ruled out offering the club owners in excess of one billion pounds.

The Glazer family bought Manchester United for 790 million pounds in 2005, against a wave of opposition from fans.

The Glazer family, who tomorrow mark their fifth anniversary as United owners, has started a media offensive to underline their determination not to sell the club, saying the pipeline of commercial deals point to sustained growth enabling the club to manage its debt burden.

Sky News’ City editor Mark Kleinman revealed the bid limit shortly before the Red Knights released a statement announcing that they would not offer “above fair value” for the club.

“The Red Knights are now in the advanced stages of preparing their offer for Manchester United. My understanding, based on what my sources have said, is that they have privately ruled out offering more than a billion pounds for Manchester United,” said Kleinman.

“This comes after speculation last week that the Glazers had turned down offers of 1.5 billion pounds for the club in the past,” he said.

In a statement obtained in advance by Sky News, the Red Knights said they had held conversations with investors, which had reinforced their belief that it would be “wrong to offer above fair value.”

They say this is particularly important due to the club’s need to reduce its debt and the fact that the fair value could be expected to fall over time due to the headwinds facing the game of football.

Commenting on the statement, Kleinman said: “That fair value is a critical number because if what the Red Knights deem to be fair value is unacceptable to the Glazers, then it looks like there will be no deal.” (ANI)