Sir Jim Ratcliffe silence on key Manchester United issue is worrying for fans

It was only a matter of time before something had to give and for most Manchester United fans, the coin landed on the wrong side.

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani’s withdrawal from the takeover process means there are no longer any full-scale buy-out bids on the table. The likely course sees the Glazers - and the debt - remain.

That debt is the rotten legacy of the current owners and it will take ages to undo. There will be no quick fix. Al-Thani had pledged to not only clear the shortfall but to invest in the club’s infrastructure however that olive branch has been swatted away by the Glazers, who seem to be leaning towards Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s minority proposal.

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Upon making his bid in February, the INEOS billionaire was looking for a 69 per cent majority stake that would have seen the Glazers exit. MEN Sport understands that Joel and Avram Glazer are dragging their heels over a sale.

They are said to value the club at around £6billion - a figure Al-Thani was disillusioned by given he had offered double the market value of United. The Glazers have been equally hesitant over Ratcliffe’s initial bid, so much so the 70-year-old has decided to change tack.

Last month, he admitted he was uneasy with walking away from the process empty-handed. And so, he has composed a £1.5bn proposal for 25 per cent of the club, and reports suggest that the Glazers are due to oblige. Part of why Al-Thani was preferred by many of the fanbase was the possibility that the club’s debts would be cleared, giving them a blank slate.

Instead, United are set to be saddled with the burden for yet more