Gary Neville has renewed his demand for the Glazer family to sell Manchester United, pointing to the club's mounting debt and the owners' refusal to take responsibility for its decline. Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, the former United captain said the time has come for the American owners to go.
Debt and spending under the spotlight
Neville highlighted the financial burden weighing on the club, saying: "There's £1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) of debt in that football club, they're hamstrung in some ways. They've spent an absolute fortune on players, just under Man City in the last 15 years. £1.4bn ($1.86bn) on players, they're second in the spending, but a lot of it's the never-never."
The Glazers have controlled the club for two decades, with their ownership initially masked by the success achieved under Sir Alex Ferguson. Since Ferguson's retirement, United have experienced a steep decline, bringing boardroom issues into sharper focus.
Criticism of ownership and Old Trafford investment
Neville criticised the Glazers for delegating football operations to INEOS, who have taken over the running of the football department in recent years. He said: "They have subcontracted the football department out to INEOS, they are trying to run the football department, they have had three years of struggling and it looks like this year is going to be a struggle."
He also contrasted the owners' presence in the United States with their absence at Old Trafford, noting: "The Glazer family over in America, in Tampa, they're very popular over there, they go to every game, apparently, I hear, they go to all the NFL games, they've hardly been to Old Trafford in 20-odd years."
Neville went on to question the funding for a planned new stadium, asking where the apparent £2bn needed would come from, as Old Trafford has fallen behind elite venues worldwide.
Call for a full sale
Concluding his remarks, Neville said: "You've got a failure of 13, 14 years on the football side, you've subbed it out to somebody else, which is ridiculous, and not took responsibility. It is now at a point where they have to sell. Enough is enough, they have to sell the whole the club. The fans have had enough. They have to go now."
Neville has previously expressed regret at not speaking out against the Glazers during his playing days, explaining: "I worked on the theory at the time that we could have worse owners. They were quite passive. But when Sir Alex Ferguson left, it's then I started to realise they were only successful because of Sir Alex Ferguson. They haven't been able to develop a successful sporting project without him."
