Once-proud Manchester United has been a comedy of errors for a while now, as it slips further and further behind crosstown rivals Manchester City in the global soccer hierarchy. And, reports that the club may not be sold after all have driven down the team’s stock price considerably.
Manchester United was purchased by the Glazer family, who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, back in 2005. For nearly a decade, things went ok, but that’s not case anymore.
Since legendary coach Sir Alex Ferguson retired following the 2012-2013 season, the club has won just one major trophy, the 2016 FA Cup. The product on the field has been awful at times, with the team missing the Champions League five times in the last ten seasons.
And, the Glazer’s have completely ruined the club financially, saddling it with huge amounts of debt and not investing in the club at the same levels other Premier League clubs. The club was first listed on the stock market in 2012, a strange move for a professional sports franchise, to say the least. With the club being run as a business to maximize profits instead of to win, and the decisions on what players to buy having been frequently disastrous, fans of the 20-time English champions want the Glazer’s to sell.
And, last year, it was reported that the family was looking to sell. Following that news, the stock price of the club nearly doubled from around $13 a share to around $22 a share in just ten days. With deep-pocketed Middle Eastern buyers supposedly interested, investors anticipated a huge sale price.
But, new rumors are out that the Glazer’s won’t sell, and the stock price has plummeted.
Tuesday saw a huge loss for the stock, taking around $700 million off the club’s worth due to the news that a sale won’t be coming.
🚨 Manchester United's stock price dropped 18% today after the false report saying that the Glazers will take the club off the market, with also no takeover news post that time! pic.twitter.com/aJINmlToxX
— Electro Sports (@ElectroSportsFC) September 5, 2023
Things aren’t going much better for the team on the pitch, either. They sit in eleventh place in the Premier League standings, having won just two matches of four so far. And, after the Mason Greenwood saga came to an end with his move to Getafé FC in Spain, the club has another crisis on their hands as winger Antony has been accused of abuse.