A new era is coming to Manchester United. On the very same day that Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo announced that they were mutually parting ways, the club released another statement that said the Glazers were interested in selling the team.
This must go down as one of the most consequential months in Manchester United history. Not only has the club agreed to release Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the greatest players of all time, after an unprecedented interview, but now the very owners, the Glazer family, of the club for the past 17 years have openly sought to sell the club in a completely unexpected move.
It’s crazy how much has happened at United in a little under a month.
First off, I’ll start off with the least surprising news of Cristiano Ronaldo’s release. Obviously, he was always going to be either cut, released, sacked, removed, blacklisted, etc. after that interview with Piers Morgan, so the news today was no surprise. In fact, the only thing that’s surprising from the joint statement was how brief it was.
Sure, the divorce between United and Ronaldo was very messy, but only saying on the club’s website, “Cristiano Ronaldo is to leave Manchester United by mutual agreement, with immediate effect. The club thanks him for his immense contribution across two spells at Old Trafford, scoring 145 goals in 346 appearances, and wishes him and his family well for the future,” is a little dismissive.
The guy won the Champions League, the FA Cup, two League Cups, the Premier League three times, two Charity/Community Shields, the FIFA Club World Cup, and the Ballon d’Or while being a United player, which is in addition to his 145 goals for the club.
They could have at least mentioned some of those great accomplishments in the statement as well as a more personalized ‘thank you’ than “we wish him and his family well for the future”.
That’s the kind of ‘thank you’ you give to a quasi-frenemy that everyone knows you two hate each other but it’s still taboo to just outright say that you do.
Anyway, the actual news of the day is that the Glazers, the money-sucking parasite that has ensnared United with their tentacles these past 17 years, are looking to sell the club. I almost cried out with laughter and joy when I saw The Athletic article (which I’ll link below) flash across my notifications.
The state of utter decay that Manchester United and all of its parts (ie: the on-field success, the stadium, the training ground, the Womens Team, etc.) has endured due to those fools has been nothing short of deplorable and depressing.
From winning league titles and Champions League glories during the final two years of Cristiano Ronaldo’s time with the club during his first spell, to now just scraping by in the Europa League against the like of Sheriff and Omonia in his final game with the club during his second stint, the story of CR7 at United is the best symbolize of how far United has fallen under the Glazer’s stewardship.
These greedy morons have not only allowed the club and the supporting facilities to faulter and crumble, buy they have also taken out hundreds of millions of dollars, which should have been used to rebuild the stadium and the training grounds/facilities, out of the club year after year.
Just this year alone, the Glazers have pocketed at least £33.6 million in dividends, though the total amount of money they would have taken out of the club in 17 years must be in the billions.
If you just multiply this small £33.6 million dividend payment, which has come in a year where the club reported a loss of over £110 million, over the last 17 years, then the Glazers would have made £571.20 million off Man United from dividend payments ALONE.
I’m not even calculating the TV revenue, the advertisement revenue, shirt sales, jersey sponsorships, overseas tours, preseason tours, Premier League standing income, Champions League/Europa League earnings, etc. they would have already of pocketed too.
Thank goodness those two cronies, Joel and Avram Glazer, are finally going to soon release their tentacles from the club as more reports are coming out that the Glazers want to sell Man United BEFORE the winter transfer window and the conclusion of the World Cup as they don’t want to invest into the squad with the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, which was a problem of their making in the first place.
The Glazers are the epitome of greed and unbridled nepotism.
Still, even though I’m overjoyed with this news about the Glazers selling Manchester United, I just pray the club isn’t bought by some secretive, shady, potentially murderous royal family/oligarchy. That would essentially be trading in a rotten apple for a poised golden one. They’re both equally bad options.
Oh, and do you want to know a fun fact? Phil Jones has now outlasted Sir Alex Ferguson, David Gill, David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Ralf Rangnick, The Glazers, Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Michael Carrick, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young, Robin Van Persie, Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Nemanja Matic, and Edison Cavani.
Phil Jones is either the literal embodiment of Teflon or he’s the Loki of the football pantheon of gods in human flesh. YOU JUST CAN’T GET RID OF THE GUY!!!!!!!!
Images Source: Featured Image:
Other Sources: (The Athletic) (Glazer family instruct banks to handle sale of Manchester United – The Athletic)
