According to Rio Ferdinand, David Beckham will try to take over Manchester United in the wake of the Glazers’ decision to leave the club.
It was announced last week that the Glazer family will look for a buyer for the team, following the example set by Liverpool owners FSG.
Although the Glazers have consistently been criticised for their management of the team, particularly in the years since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure, fans have been clamouring for the Glazers to sell United for years, but they have resisted up until this point.
Who will be able to purchase a club valued at £6 billion by the Glazers and £3.8 billion by Forbes at the time of writing?
A consortium, similar to the one that bought Chelsea for £2.5 billion earlier this year under the leadership of Todd Boehly, appears to be the most likely option besides English billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe has previously tried to purchase the club. A consortium led by United icon David Beckham, who is already a member of one ownership group, is one of the ideas being floated. Beckham founded the MLS team Inter Miami in 2018 along with Jorge Mas, and he continues to be the club’s owner.
Given Beckham’s estimated net worth of £370 million, any takeover would require a sizable amount of outside funding. Ferdinand believes that this is absolutely possible.
As reported by the Manchester Evening News, he said:
“Becks will come with a consortium. I saw Becks last night at the [England vs USA] game, I went to the England game and we sat next to each other. He smelt beautiful, looked beautiful.”
“He looked a million dollars, as he normally does. He didn’t look 10 billion dollars’ worth. But when you mention someone like Becks’ name, he’s obviously a part-owner of Inter Miami, but he doesn’t come [alone].”
“It’s not his money. It’s not him in terms of putting his hand in his pocket. He comes with a consortium. He comes with people who do have deep pockets and have the ability to go and execute a deal like that. So that’s the way he’ll be approaching it, and rightly so.”
The Glazers’ decision to sell the club has been the hottest topic of the month. Many interested candidates have been linked with billionaires like Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Saudi and Qatari-based investors being the most likely suitors.
Beckham’s idea of taking over United can’t be ruled out but it would require a huge effort by the former United midfielder to get the deal done. Strong backing from a consortium would help him take the first step.
But, it seems more likely that other top contenders will get the upper hand in this deal.
