Chelsea sale has given Glazers impetus to sell Manchester United, say experts

Chelsea's record sale last year has proved to the Glazer family that now is the right time to sell Manchester United, industry experts told Reuters, with any deal for the Premier League club having the potential to be the biggest in sporting history.

British billionaire and long-time United fan Jim Ratcliffe's company INEOS has entered the bidding process to buy the record 20-times English champions after he failed to acquire Chelsea, who were sold for $5.2 billion in May.

United have not won the league in a decade, with the unpopular Glazers the target of several fan protests, but they are still an attractive prospect, according to Neil Joyce, CEO & co-founder of CLV Group.

The club is one of the world's biggest sporting brands and generated 689 million euros ($750.94 million) in revenue in 2021-22.

"Chelsea getting sold in 2022 means a rate has been established on the value of a Premier League club," Joyce said.

"If you use the traditional method of valuing a club, which could be anywhere between eight to 10 times the revenue, that kind of $5 billion number is probably on the lower end of it."

The Glazers bought United for 790 million pounds in 2005 in a highly-leveraged deal which has been criticised for loading debt onto the club.

NOT 'RATIONAL MARKET'

United's net debt grew nearly 23 per cent to 515 million pounds in September, but that will not deter potential investors, according to Joyce and Spencer Harris, Associate Professor of Sport Management at the University of Colorado.

"In a rational market, debts of this type would directly influence bids and price," Harris said.

"But the Premier League generally and Manchester United specifically do not represent a rational market."

The club's valuation as a public company peaked