Prospective Manchester United owners have a simple task to complete to prove themselves to fans

When Manchester United was initially put up for sale by the Glazers in November, the news was met with cautious optimism.

For some time, the relationship between the owners and the fans had become stretched to its limit. The Glazer family are now a rare sight at Old Trafford and when Avram Glazer was in attendance at Wembley for the Carabao Cup final, his appearance was met with a chorus of boos. Anyone looking at the current situation can see this cannot carry on. It is untenable.

Off-field battles are distracting from the on-field challenges and nobody is winning in this scenario. A change in ownership, which last year's statement loosely referred to, would be a step in the right direction.

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The two main contenders to buy United are Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani. According to various reports, Ratcliffe is the frontrunner and the Glazers are willing to discuss the purchase further with him.

It is believed Ratcliffe's bid would allow both Joel and Avram Glazer to remain on the board. Meanwhile, Sheikh Jassim is wanting to complete a full purchase of the club which would see the Glazers leave Old Trafford.

Whoever does buy the club should have one key priority if they wish to win over the fanbase: distance themselves from the previous regime.

For Ratcliffe, should the reports be true, this will be easier said than done. It is hard to define yourself as a new owner with fresh ideas if you still have two of the former owners on the board.

The same task faces Sheikh Jassim but, for him, it is marginally easier because of his 'full purchase' approach. However, ensuring the Glazers are no longer a part of United should not be the only way the