Manchester United is said to be for sale

As the association announced, the Glazer family is considering external financing to promote growth. “As part of this process, the board will consider all strategic alternatives, including new investments in the club, a sale or other transactions affecting the company,” it said in a statement.

The Glazer family have owned the club for 17 years, but Manchester fans have been clamoring for a change of ownership for some time. The 13-time Premier League winner has not won a single trophy in five years, the last titles so far were the Europa League and the League Cup in 2017.

The potential sale of United could attract big investors. According to the news agency Reuters, British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe had already expressed an interest in August of this year. At the time, Elon Musk had also joked about a possible purchase. In any case, the announcement has sent Manchester United shares up 20 percent in New York since “Sky News” was the first medium to report the intention to sell. The club is currently valued at $2.6 billion.

The announcement came about four hours after the announcement that Manchester United and soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo were terminating the contract. Ronaldo had previously criticized the coach and the owners of the club in an interview.

For former soccer star Rio Ferdinand, the split between Manchester United and Ronaldo was only a matter of time. “The situation with Ronaldo was like a ticking time bomb. I think he felt like he was being pushed into a corner. It was an awkward situation for the club,” Ferdinand told the BBC, for which he works as a pundit.

Ferdinand did not want to predict what would happen next for Ronaldo. “The next chapter for Cristiano? It depends on what his motivation is. Play in the Champions League? Money? Keep playing somewhere with a good climate?” he said. Ferdinand played for United between 2002 and 2014.