The Glazers Watch in Silence as Ratcliffe Sinks Manchester United

There's an image that explains what's happening at Old Trafford better than any statistic: the biggest, flashiest house on the block, rented out to tenants who promised to renovate and modernize it, and who instead are on the verge of burning it down. That is, literally, the view the Glazers have from the United States as Manchester United sinks a little further every week.

The club is going through another crisis, maybe the deepest in recent years, and nobody seems to be in charge. There's a manager who could be fired at any moment, a locker room with no clear direction, and a team sitting just two points above the relegation zone in the Premier League. And through all of it, the longtime owners, the Glazer family, remain nowhere to be seen.

Since they arrived in 2005, the Glazers were never exactly beloved by the fanbase. Their leveraged buyout of the club left it with 600 million pounds in debt, and since then roughly 2 billion pounds have flowed out of United's coffers in interest payments, dividends and other financial costs. A good chunk of the current mess traces back to that.

But what stands out now is something else: in February 2024, they handed sporting control to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who took a 28% stake in the club in exchange for 1.5 billion pounds and promised to restore United to its rightful place. Nearly three years later, the result has been the opposite: layoffs, managerial changes, budget cuts and a team drifting further and further from the top of the table.

A source who watched Sunday's 3-0 loss to Bournemouth from the stands summed it up to ESPN this way:

The fans were all chanting against the Glazers, but I don't know if they realize how badly Jim is doing. He couldn't have designed a worse situation. He's lowered the standard across every department. It's basically the opposite of what he said his strategy was going to be.Source consulted by ESPN

The Glazers, who also own the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, still control almost 72% of the club and retain, thanks to a so called drag-along clause, the final say over any future sale. Until February 2027, Ratcliffe would be guaranteed $33 a share if they decide to sell, but that floor expires in four months, meaning that from then on the Glazers could sell at any price, higher or lower.

The problem, according to sources consulted, is that right now there's no real market for buying a Premier League club, let alone one with United's problems. Manchester City's appeal over the 115 financial charges has every potential investor waiting to see what happens: City getting kicked out of the league or City getting cleared and remaining an economic powerhouse are two completely different scenarios, and nobody wants to commit without knowing which one is coming.

A share price that keeps losing value

Meanwhile, United's share price on the New York Stock Exchange closed last Friday at $20.61, well below the $33 Ratcliffe paid. A source told ESPN that the Glazers are simply waiting for the right moment to sell: the failed Super League project of 2021 took away one possible exit, and now there's talk of two other potential triggers, the construction of a new stadium at Old Trafford (which would send the club's value soaring) or City eventually being thrown out of the Premier League, which would leave United without one of its biggest rivals for titles. If that really is the plan, the club would remain stuck in limbo while Ratcliffe keeps making decisions that, according to sources, aren't working: he's fired and hired executives, cycled through failed managerial appointments, slashed transfer and wage budgets, and overseen nearly 500 layoffs at Old Trafford.

That round of job cuts, by the way, did not sit well with co-chairmen Joel and Avram Glazer. One source said the way Ratcliffe carried it out clashed with Joel's "sense of decency and traditional values," something many fans will find hard to believe, given that Joel is the same man who hasn't set foot in Old Trafford for a match since United played Barcelona in April 2019.

And yet, those who worked with him tell a different story. According to several ESPN sources, Joel used to talk "several times a day" with then executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward about the club's day to day operations, down to signing off on expenses as minor as a paint order from the Old Trafford maintenance crew. He was also the one who vetoed the idea of furloughing club employees during the pandemic, insisting everyone be paid in full despite the cost involved.

That hands-on version of Joel seems like a different person today. With Ratcliffe still showing no sign he can put out the fire, the Glazers watch the house burn from a distance, in silence.