A delegation of Manchester United top brass are set to visit Saudi Arabia as rumours of a take over by the Gulf state's Crown Prince refuse to disappear.
Discontent surrounding United's ownership by the American Glazer family has been apparent since their takeover in 2005, paving the way for reports of a possible takeover by 34-year-old Mohammed Bin Salman.
Although they have attended in the past, an appearance by United officials at the Future Investment Initiative organised by the Saudi Royal Family's sovereign wealth fund later this month will do little to quash rumours of a purchase.
According to The Transfer Window podcast's Duncan Castles, the Glazers themselves have attended in the past and United are set to be represented again at the conference in the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh in just over two days time.
Manchester United is valued at £2billion by the New York Stock Exchange and Mohammed Bin Salman could use part of the Saudi Royal Family's £1 trillion wealth to become a major player on the football ownership scene.
He would join the likes of Manchester City's Abu Dhabi owners and the Qatari royal family behind Paris Saint-Germain.
While all three of the nations may not be football hotbeds, the world of football ownership opens up colossal monetary opportunities and indeed that is what the FII focuses on.
On its website, it is described as a collection of individuals 'with the power to shape the future of global investment.'
Aside from the financial aspect, sport journalist Castles believes that club ownership offers a good publicity vehicle for the Crown Prince and his family.
Another subject of the ire of United fans has been the club's Chief Executive, Ed Woodward.
But he recently insisted that the club are not for sale, despite a £3 billion acquisition by the Saudi prince being reported.
'Based on what I see, they're in it for the long-term,' said Woodward.
'With regards to offers or asking prices, my understanding is that there have been no discussions for a price for the club or anything like that. Every conversation we have is based on the long-term.'
One of the main criticisms of the Glazers is the debt saddled on United by their leveraged £780m buyout which currently stands at £511m.
But in an interview with fanzine United We Stand, Woodward played down that figure, saying: 'The debt is a long-term, structured and similar to some other football clubs.
'It's a fixed amount for a fixed period of time which results in it being fairly cheap to service.
'It's just under two per cent our annual revenue each year, so it doesn't really have any impact on us.'
On the pitch, United have also drawn criticism from their fans, slumping to 14th in the Premier League, having failed to win in their last four games.
They travel to Norwich tomorrow as they seek to put their season right.
Jamanoor88
694
7th, 4th, 5th, 6th, 2nd, 6th, 7th. Prem finishes since Fergie. 7th this season if they're lucky. United are no longer a top 4 Prem club. Not even relevant in the Prem or Europe. Miles and miles away from challenging for the Prem or Champions League titles. 538's predictive statistical model has them finishing this season on 55 points. Talk about getting knocked off your fucking perch. Somebody has stolen the entire birdcage while The Admiral, Mr. Ed, was sleeping. United's net-spend the last 2 seasons has been £65m and £47m. These have been planned transfer net expenditure spending levels. The net-spend for this January and the summer will again likely be between £50m and £75m. Mandzukic will be coming in January primarily because he is cheap. United no longer have the ability to "bigly" spend their way out of a crisis. No midfielders or strikers purchased this past summer when their need for both was clearly at a critical point, clearly illustrates this situation. Herrera, Fellaini, Sanchez and Lukaku gone with no replacements brought in for those positions now in serious need of top quality. Roy Keane mentioning they should get Harry Kane is a financial non-starter. £200m is not available, nor an amount anywhere near that level. Being mired in the Europa League backwater hits their revenue for £60m. The Adidas kit penalty will be £22m. The Chevy shirt sponsorship loss of £65m per year will likely be replaced with a much more frugal deal. The £50m of dividends and interest are paid from the first £50m of gross revenue. Missing the Europa spots would be another £50m dagger, since United would also lose all European match day revenue, as well as Europa distributions, which are pegged at 30% of Champions League distributions. And forget the £300m cash balance that United reflected on their June 2019 financials. £225m of that is "advances" from the commercial sponsors to be used primarily to pay wages and operating expenses for the current 2019/20 season. The other £75m is needed for working capital and general corporate needs. It represents 1.5 months of operating costs. Miss out on Europa and those funds will be desperately needed. None of those funds are really available for either transfer spending or paying down that £500m gross debt amount. It's just a number that Woodward can use to make the finances look better. Looky looky herey. Net debt? Only £200m. Transfer funds? We have a boatload of cash! Bulls$$$hite!!...,
TanIsRed
377
I'm not a fan of the Prince but he will be better than Glazers for sure.. At least we will see top class players in United hunting for glories... Let's make it happen... Therefore #GlazersOut #WoodwardOut
jambnou
241
we need a new owner... the Glazers are F**ked.