Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville believes if Sir Jim Ratcliffe is successful in his bid for the Old Trafford club it has to come with a defined exit strategy for the Glazer family.
The British billionaire’s offer for United involves buying a controlling stake and allowing brothers Joel and Avram Glazer to remain part-owners.
Ratcliffe’s main rival for the club is Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, who is proposing a full buy-out.
Neville said whomever is successful in a process which is currently in its ninth month the removal of the Glazers, hugely unpopular with fans, had to be a priority.
Asked for his preference of new owner Neville, speaking at the European Football Fans Congress in Manchester, said: “I genuinely don’t mind. I’d like the Glazers to leave in full.
“Even the way they are dealing with the sale process which means it ultimately just drags out as they can’t make a decision.
“There are other examples in the club at this time where they can’t basically deal with things which are difficult.
“I’m hopeful of a complete exit. The Ratcliffe bid, it has been suggested, looks like a part-exit with two of them staying and I don’t like the idea of that.
“If that bid is successful I’d like to think there is a fixed exit for the Glazer brothers say, in two years, so we know there is an exit for them which has agreed.
“So Jim Ratcliffe comes in, he has this level of money then he brings in another investor to take them out and do so within a couple of years.”
On what any new owner should prioritise once they were in place Neville added: “They would have to straightaway have to look at the football side of things because football clubs should be about football performance.
“But you can look at things simultaneously. Manchester United, 20 years ago when they came in and bought the club, had the best team, the best stadium and the best training ground.
“We are now second-rate in all those categories, we are nowhere near it.
“I don’t think Jim Ratcliffe would look at that straightaway. I think he’d look at the football side, getting that right and getting the fans on board.
“I think the Qatari bid, with all the money they have, they probably would look at all other things.”
Neville also believes United have to target higher-quality signings as opposed to “scrambling around for a £55million Mason Mount”.
“When I look at Real Madrid signing (Jude) Bellingham and others signing (Declan) Rice and the business others are doing in the market I just feel we are going to be scrambling around again for the top four. That’s my fear.
“We need two or three players that are really high quality. Two or three players of the Harry Kane-type-quality.
“Kane makes a massive difference as he guarantees goals and guarantees assists. Then you have to deal with the goalkeeping situation and then we need potentially and a full-back.”
In a wide-ranging 45-minute question and answer session at Manchester Metropolitan University Neville covered a number of subjects, from regulation in football through to his ownership of League Two club Salford, but the rivalry at the top of the Premier League was a recurring topic.
Neville was critical of Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group, likening them to the Glazers, and admits Manchester City’s potential for growth scares him.
“The last seven or eight years Liverpool have been successful because of Jurgen Klopp,” he said.
“But you look at Liverpool’s net spend of, I think, £130million over the last five years and what he has done is what Sir Alex (Ferguson) was doing at Manchester United while the Glazers were there.
“He is sheltering the owners, he’s putting an umbrella over the overs to stop the rain falling on them.
“If Liverpool they were actually performing to the investment they have made they would be in trouble.
“I do think they (FSG) have similar traits to the Glazer family and I think it will uncover there in the next few years.”
On City Neville added: “What scares me a little bit about City (is) that the foundations they are building are deep.
“Not just with actual players they have signed but their weaponry around the world at attracting players to all those other feeder clubs they own and the academy players coming through.
“They could be a different level if they really wanted to in producing academy players. I think City are dangerous because the gave a very good academy.”
Tuchel and Bayern fume at 'absolute disaster' after contentious offside call
Thomas Tuchel and Bayern Munich were left fuming after Matthijs de Ligt's contentious late strike was disallowed in their semi-final defeat to Real Madrid.
Bayern crashed out 4-3 on aggregate at Santiago Bernabeu after a dramatic double from substitute Joselu saw the hosts snatch victory to advance to the final on June 1.
Tuchel's side thought they had forced extra-time when De Ligt had the ball in the net, but the referee had already blown his whistle after the linesman raised his flag, so VAR could not intervene.
The replays showed that the original decision was closer than first thought, and the head coach bemoaned the lack of consistency after Madrid's second goal was awarded following a VAR review.
"I think it's pretty clear and there is no doubt that is against the rules of modern football," he said. "A disaster. An absolute disaster.
"With Real's second goal, they let the play continue. The clear rule is that the scene must continue. The first mistake was made by the linesman, the second by the referee."
Bayern had taken the lead through Alphonso Davies at the midway point in the second half, before Joselu's late intervention denied them a crack at a seventh title against compatriots Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.
De Ligt said the linesman had apologised to him after the game.
"[It is] very difficult. Of course, as sportspeople, we accept it," Tuchel said. "But it is a semi-final, it's not for two such mistakes.
"Everyone has to be at their limit. The referees have to be there as well. That is what we expect, so the apology does not really help."
Super sub Joselu 'the perfect reflection of Madrid', hails Ancelotti after Bayern brace
Carlo Ancelotti saluted Joselu after the striker climbed off the bench and scored twice against Bayern Munich to send Real Madrid through to their 18th Champions League final.
Following Alphonso Davies' earlier strike at Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid trailed Bayern 1-0 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate when Joselu replaced Federico Valverde with nine minutes of their pulsating semi-final tie remaining.
The 33-year-old, who is on loan from second-tier Espanyol, turned the tie on its head with two dramatic late goals.
First, he pounced on a rare mistake by Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer to stab in an 88th-minute equaliser, before volleying home Antonio Rudiger's cross in the first minute of stoppage time.
This was Joselu's eighth substitute appearance in this season's Champions League and Ancelotti praised the professionalism of his striker, who has now netted 17 times across all competitions, despite spending much of the campaign on the bench.
"He's a player who's contributed a lot this season, even if he hasn't played many minutes," the Italian said.
"But he's the perfect reflection of what this squad is: players who contribute a lot without losing confidence [if they're not playing] and the idea that they can offer the team something."
Ancelotti, whose side will play Borussia Dortmund in his sixth Champions League final as a manager on June 1, also hailed the character demonstrated by his players during another "magical" Madrid performance.
"It's happened so many times now, it's something inexplicable," he added. "It's happened again [thanks to] fans that push [us], a fantastic atmosphere and players who never stop believing that they can do it. It's something magical, there's no explanation for it."
Journeyman Joselu takes long, winding road to Champions League final
Real Madrid striker Joselu was in dreamland after he came on in the dying moments of their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich on Wednesday and turned the game on its head with two goals to snatch a stunning victory.
Joselu, whose journeyman career has included spells at clubs such as Hoffenheim, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hannover 96, Stoke City and Newcastle United, only touched the ball a few times in their 2-1 second-leg win, but it was a night he is likely to remember for a long time.
He pounced on a rare mistake by Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer, stabbing the ball into the net to equalise for Madrid in the 88th minute, and just under three minutes later, he volleyed them into the lead from a cross by Antonio Rudiger.
"I don't know anything about being a hero, but I'm very happy... You can imagine," he said. "It was incredible, something spectacular. This team never gives up, it's in its blood to fight to the end and that's what we've done.
"You always dream of this kind of performance, but not even my most beautiful dreams are as big as what happened today."
On loan from second-division side Espanyol, Joselu's journey to becoming the semi-final hero has been long and winding in a career involving a dozen clubs across Europe.
He began his career at Celta Vigo before being bought in 2009 by Madrid, where he excelled in their B team but rarely made it to the first team.
He was sold to Bundesliga side Hoffenheim in 2012 and then loaned to Eintracht Frankfurt before joining Hannover 96 in 2014.
In 2015, he moved to Premier League side Stoke City, playing 27 times and scoring four goals, before spending two seasons at Newcastle United. He returned to Spain with Alaves, where he scored 36 times in three seasons.
He signed as a free agent with Espanyol in the summer of 2022, and a year later was loaned to Madrid and has scored nine goals in 32 appearances this season in LaLiga.
Joselu, born in Stuttgart, Germany, made his debut for Spain aged 33, coming off the bench against Norway to score twice in two minutes in March 2023.
"I don’t think Joselu will be sleeping much tonight, he’ll be useless in training tomorrow!" team-mate Jude Bellingham said. "He deserves it all, he’s been an amazing member of the squad all season, and it’s his night."
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