Oh my gosh! Is manU going the ways of Leeds already?
The Glazer family are struggling to refinance the massive debts at Manchester United, it has been revealed.
The Times says the Americans have been trying unsuccessfully to secure a refinancing package for part of the club’s £699 million debt for months, having failed in 2007 and last year, because of the bleak global economic climate.
Fans’ groups have cast doubt over whether they will ever see the £80 million raised from the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portugal forward, to Real Madrid last summer reinvested in the squad.
The main concern is understood to centre around the £175.5 million worth of debt that the Glazers are personally responsible for, not the £518.7 million of loans secured against the club.
A spokesman for the Glazer family said: “We continue to keep our financial options for the club under review just like any other business.”
What's leeds? lol
Thought you'd be more concerned with Manchester City.
Bayern Munich have joined the doubters of Manchester United's financial state.
The Mail on Sunday says Bayern have added to the growing consensus among European clubs that Manchester United face an imminent financial crisis because of the £700million debt laden on the club by the Glazer family.
Partizan Belgrade president Dragan Djuric raised the spectre last week by suggesting that a lack of funds might be a reason for United's failure to follow through on the proposed signing of Serbia Under-21 midfielder Adem Ljajic, even though United insist it is a decision made purely because of the strength of their emerging players.
But directors at Bayern Munich formed the same impression as Djuric in the summer when United made an early inquiry about the availability of Bayern winger Franck Ribery.
Bayern suggested a price in the region of £60million, heard nothing more and concluded that United didn't have the money to spend, despite the £80m sale of Cristiano Ronaldo.
well, 60mil for ribery.. not a everyday sale leh..
No doubt it is true that the recession has bitten hard at Manchester United. Partizan Belgrade president Dragan Djuric suggested as much following the collapse of Adem Ljajic’s £10million transfer, although his club is in greater crisis and signalling that more players will have to be sold in January’s transfer window.
Bayern Munich, apparently, also concluded that Manchester United were struggling when they asked £60m for Franck Ribery in the summer and heard nothing more.
In the case of Ribery, however, the explanation could be simply that he was over-rated, over-priced and the fee was always going to fall dramatically once Munich realised greed had cost them the opportunity to sell at a high, yet fair, figure; which is exactly what has happened.
man utd will never lack of buyers. if glazers even want to sell man utd to another abu dhabi group, i am sure there are eager buyers.
Originally posted by reyes:man utd will never lack of buyers. if glazers even want to sell man utd to another abu dhabi group, i am sure there are eager buyers.
hannor... just name a price and someone out there will buy it...GIC for one will have the money to throw..... and it will be one of their best investment lor..
Originally posted by Iain Macintosh:There are some serious problems at the heart of English football. Debt, despite what Scudamore thinks, is not a good thing. How can there be anything good about millions of pounds in interest vanishing from the game?
Everything is staked on the hope that revenues will continue to rise, but they can’t keep going up forever. Sooner or later, people run out of money. Ticket prices go too high, cable subscriptions become too expensive, replica shirts become an unnecessary expense. Football clubs have been ripping off fans for years. It will not last forever and when it ends, we’re going to see some fireworks. Leeds will not be the last team to collapse under the weight of their own stupidity.
Debts isn't purely confine to only English clubs my dear friend... The majority of European clubs have it... Even Real Madrid... So its not as what you perceived it to be "serious problems at the heart of English football"
Valencia, one of the better Spanish club also have huge debt problems... If you compare them to Arsenal and Liverpool then you will know that Pool and Arsenal's problems are not as serious despite having debts of around $300m. Reason being, they are much more profitable to Valencia.
And not everything is just pin on revenues will continue to rise... Just maintaining current levels is more than enough. Which is not something very difficult to do in the present state for these clubs as sponsorship deals have been signed for the next few years...
We have seen that even during the financial crises or the economic tsunami, they remain strong. If anything, we are seeing new high in Tv deals being set, new transfer record fees being broken... Bigger sponsorship fees from shirts to other areas being closed... These are all signs of much better days ahead.
As a businessman, these are good opportunities to get into the game. Cos the future looks bright. And unless something very drastic happens, and I mean very drastic... Example like a war breaks out, and I don't just mean a war like the Iraq one which was already very big, but it still doesn't really effect Europe... So maybe one like a WW3 type, which I belief is still very remote so there shouldn't be too much worry there.
My personal belief is tickets will continue to raise over the next 5 to 10 years... Even if not for other reasons, inflation alone will make it happen.
In United's case, it shouldn't be too serious... Like someone mentioned here, if the Glazers cannot pay up, the most they will have to sell it off to someone else at whatever price they can get or the banks will do it for them. And there shouldn't be any lack of takers too, only the price to accept that's all. The reason being due to the proper management over the last 2 decades, it is the most profitable club.
One thing you must understand is... The current debts isn't incur due to operation but rather due to the owner's purchase of it. So the club being in debts wouldn't frighten serious investors. The worse case if they can't get a single investor, they can always re-list on the stock market or have a few different private shareholders...
The picture you painted is too gloomy, probably too extreme I would say... Leeds is no longer a good example to be used with United... They live in a different time, Tv deals and revenue was not as it is today, they hardly had a marketing plan back then, or huge sponsorship deals to help support the club and of course a rich owner... Income mainly depended on getting into champions league as gate collection then was very little. And Leeds probably didn't had a proper plan, buying a few very expensive players with high salaries at the same time was the killer blow for them.
And lastly, and very unfortunately... I think cable subscriptions will continue to go up in the years to come, new design or colours replica shirts will still sell just like they have been increasing this last few years... Thats just the way it looks to me at least for the next 10 years if no WW3 breaks out.
Originally posted by Iain Macintosh:ZoCross, I remember an estate agent telling me this about the property market back in 2007! Nothing keeps growing and everything is cyclical. The football clubs have got greedy and stupid and that’s an appalling combination.
English clubs cannot attract the big players anymore because of the supertax and, without those names, other leagues will challenge their dominance.
Maybe you’re right and perhaps I’m being too gloomy, but something feels terribly wrong at the moment….
Hmmm... So did the property price remain as in during the financial crises or are they the same as in 2007 or even better than 2007 now?
Can I say a property agent told my parents that their home will continue to increase in 1987 as well? Like they purchased their home a 4R flat for $60k then and today its worth $340k? And it have... simply because of inflation. It will continue to happen unless like I have said earlier, a WW3 breaks out...
Football clubs today are no longer just your plain old football clubs. You cannot compare today to yesteryear's. They are a business entity these days... Much richer investors pump in a lot of money as well in the hope of making too...
I don't agree that English clubs cannot attract big players... And remember, its a team sport, so having a few star players confine to just 2 clubs out of 20 isn't a healthy or competitive league that would attract interest from the neutrals...
I have already made plans to leave Starhub and have Mio for the simple reason of next season's EPL. And I also know quite a number of friends have done so as well. Starhub's LaLiga isn't going to stop me from cancelling my subscription with them... And I believed many others will do so too regardless of those star players you seem to think is the reason the league is attractive...
Really, I believed it's the style and the competitive nature of it where a mid table side or a near bottom side also have a high chance of taking on the top sides is what makes it interesting... Not the one or two star players... Like I used to like watching Ronaldo play but now that he has gone to Laliga, I don't really care to watch him now... I belief its the same with many Pool fans as well with Alonso. I enjoyed watching City v Chelsea much more than I would be with Barch v Real... Honestly...
dun worry united will not be like leeds. spain banks and local council wont let RM go bankrupt. likewise the local council in manchester and banks in england wont like united to go bankrupt like leeds. remember AIA, citigroup rescue by the US government?or a sheik rescue from middle east
Originally posted by Iain Macintosh:God knows, I hope you’re right, ZoCross. My livelihood depends on it!
So you are a property agent ?
Wah... Earning a lot recently ah... ok lah, Good luck to you and hopr you close more deals...
Originally posted by Iain Macintosh:Not a property agent, ZoCross, but let’s just say that if English football collapsed, I’d be a lot worse off….
Hmmm... Lets just say one door shuts, another one open... lol