Sir Martin Broughton, former chairman at Liverpool, believes that the fact that Manchester United is not in London is the major reason why the Glazers’ asking price is unrealistic.
Sir Martin has extensive experience with takeovers and administration of top clubs in England. He helped facilitate the handing over of Liverpool to FSG.
Broughton was also part of the bidding process for Chelsea but eventually lost out to Todd Boehly and Clearlake.
In an interview with The Telegraph, the businessman questioned the reported values of United and Liverpool and how they can be worth £4 billion-plus without having London postcodes.
The Englishman told The Telegraph that when he was bidding for Chelsea, he found that most billionaires prefer sports investments that reside in London.
Broughton said, “I would question whether they’ll [United and Liverpool] get the kind of prices they floated.”
“With Chelsea – and I think Arsenal and Tottenham would fall into the same category – the people we spoke to tended to be overseas billionaires who had a pad in London and the pad in London was in Knightsbridge or Kensington, Chelsea or something.”
“So when they came to London, they went to Chelsea. They were football fans, and they were Chelsea fans… they’re not going to be bidders for Liverpool or Manchester United because they’ve got a pad in London and they’re not planning to move their pad to Manchester or Liverpool. So it’s a different type of buyer to the ones that we were looking for with our consortium.”
He added that Liverpool and United are not in the same boat.
As per Broughton’s information, the John Henry-led FSG are keen on a minority investment that would allow them to retain control at Anfield.
The Glazers on the other hand want a complete sale – a sentiment they share with United fans who want them completely gone.
Broughton opines that the deep unpopularity of the Glazer family will work well in the next owner’s favour as it will be easier to sway the fans.
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