Manchester United chief executive David Gill has admitted
it would have been unimaginable for the Old Trafford club to sign
four major stars last summer if they had remained a
PLC.
Although Malcolm Glazer's controversial £790million takeover in
2005 was accompanied by protests from long-standing United
supporters groups and the formation of rebel outfit FC United, the
club have provided the perfect answer to their critics by posting
stunning profits of £59.6million for the 12 months to June 2007 - a
massive 93% rise on the previous year.
The figures form part of an impressive set of results which have
seen turnover rise to £245million, once sales from Nike merchandise
and MUTV are added to a group turnover of £210million - a sum which
United officials feel entitles them to claim they are once again
the richest club in the world.
With revenue streams increasing in every area and more to come this
year once the new, vastly-improved Premier League TV deal starts to
take effect, United are in far healthier shape than anyone could
have predicted prior to the Glazer family's involvement.
And Gill is convinced if the takeover had never happened, Sir Alex
Ferguson would not have had the funds for his summer blitz, which
saw the arrivals of Nani, Anderson, Owen Hargreaves and Carlos
Tevez. "I wouldn't disagree with the view that it would have been
unimaginable to sign those four players if we had still been a
PLC," said Gill.
"There is a new structure in place now and decisions can be made
pretty quickly. I was on the telephone in Portugal to Joel Glazer
over Nani and Anderson. He said just do it.
"It wasn't a long, drawn-out affair. Tevez and Hargreaves were, but
for different reasons. "The family understand the requirement to
have a successful team, playing in the Manchester United way, and
they have backed the manager with funds."