Michael Knighton hits back at doubts over Manchester United takeover prospects

Michael Knighton said 'there will always be trolls and naysayers' as he thanked fans for their messages after vowing to bid to buy Manchester United.

Knighton, who attempted to complete a takeover of United in 1989, claimed this week that he has drawn up a fresh bid to buy the club from the Glazer family with the support of a consortium. The Glazers are under increasing pressure to sell United and a sizeable protest was held against them ahead of Sunday's Premier League opener against Brighton at Old Trafford.

Supporters have been left hugely disappointed with United's recruitment this summer and the club's recent plan to try and bring former Stoke City and West Ham United striker Marko Arnautovic to Old Trafford received an angry backlash, only increasing calls for the Glazers to sell up.

READ MORE: Most United fans know the truth about Michael Knighton's takeover hopes

But despite Knighton outlining his ambitions to purchase United from the Glazers, there are significant and well-founded doubts about his prospects of completing a takeover.

Knighton is not viewed as a credible candidate to take over, but he took to Twitter anyway to write: "Many thanks for ALL the brilliantly kind messages of support, this is really much appreciated. I apologise for taking time to tweet back & respond to individuals but the response has been truly massive. Ignore the trolls & naysayers, they will always be there, they make me smile."

In an interview with Man Utd The Religion, released on Tuesday evening, Knighton said: "We are a club in crisis and we all know the reason why. We have an inept and frankly useless ownership who know little about this game of football.

"Everyone knows that we need new ownership of this football